Dean:From accusations to...

ANALYSIS

Volume 15, Issue 28 September 18-24, 2013

Obama: Deficits falling atfastest rate since WWII.

Is that really true?PAGE 4

What was behindVenezuela’s deadly oil

refinery explosion?PAGE 10

Ward 5 Chamber of Commerce Member

By Natasha Minsky

Las Vegas Tribune

The range of Metro’s despicable

and illegal activity and incidents is

staggering. Fortunately, the Las

Vegas Tribune has a memory to ri-

val a high-tech flash drive and is

more than willing to share that

stored-up information with all.

From the police shootings of

unarmed citizens, the numerous

cover-up murders, the planting and

destroying of evidence, the DNA

mistakes, the prosecutorial miscon-

duct, bribery, drug use and sales,

drunk driving police vehicle dam-

age, the numerous battery domes-

tic violence cases, malfeasance,

hostile work environment incidents,

unlawful employee termination,

head-kickings, the patrol car thrill

ride to the Grand Canyon, the con-

doned and tolerated mental patient

dumping, the condoned and

complicit $42 million Police Radio

Fraud Scam coupled with the $26

million Radio Replacement Scam,

the $200,000 electric police car

purchase failure, the gratuitous ce-

(See Analysis, Page 4)

discrimination in the workplace

complaints, sexual tryst misconduct

activity — on duty in the workplace

(8th floor, old city hall), false po-

lice reports, the forgotten and mis-

placed police reports and com-

plaints, the unreported self-inflicted

gunshot wounds of officers, unre-

ported and reported video-taped

citizen beatings and groin stomps,

Prison phone call industrywill fight new FCC rules

lowering rates for inmatesPAGE 2

The Dark and Ugly Side ofMetro’s Two Faces

In what some were calling Mayweather’s toughest test in many years, he authored a clinic against Saul

“Canelo” Alvarez as he rolled to a majority decision to unify junior middleweight world titles Saturday

night — on Mexican Independence Day weekend — at the sold-out MGM Grand Garden Arena, where

the all-time gate record of $20,003,150 was set by the 16,746 in attendance. (Story and photos on 5)

By Las Vegas Tribune Staff

Tim Dean — a Las Vegas bail

bondsman who spent several

months in jail when he was accused

of conspiring to kill his business

partner and then later wanted to

become Sheriff of Clark County —

may, once again, be up to no good.

While he was at the Clark

County Detention Center on

charges that he wanted to kill his

business partner, and had not been

able to post bail, Dean called the

Las Vegas Tribune several times

and wanted to give his side of the

story. Tim Dean

Dean: From accusations tofreedom to more problems

As always, the newspaper gave

Dean the same opportunity as any-

one else to tell his side of the story

and published it on the front page.

Now the Las Vegas Tribune has

learned that something is not going

quite right at that bail bond office

located on an obscure street in

downtown Las Vegas.

But when we tried to contact

Dean to give him the same oppor-

tunity this time that we gave him

seven years ago, when he was in the

county jail, he hid behind a big-

mouthed female employee and

never returned the newspaper’s

telephone call.

The female employee — who

claimed to be a “big-mouthed Cu-

ban” — treated the reporter calling

to some of her guff by saying that

she is Cuban and knows “how to

break heads in a flash” — but was

too afraid to give her real name.

The reporter learned that while

all this telephone drama was tak-

ing place, Dean was sitting in the

office trying to learn “step by step”

what was going on and suggested

to the “big-mouthed Cuban” to end

the conversation by signaling with

his hand to cut off the call.

Back in 2005, Dean abandoned

his business partner in El Salvador

when he went to arrest a predator

that had jumped bail with them and

escaped to his native El Salvador.

His then-partner told the newspa-

pers at his arrival back in the United

States that Dean did not move a fin-

ger to free him and bring him back

to the country.

Las Vegas Tribune has learned

from an unreliable source that

“something is going on at Dean’s

place that does not sound right,” but

it was not at all clear what that

might be.

Dean’s bail bond company

seems to have several “new cli-

ents,” but it is not clear where they

are coming from and how they

picked his bail bond company out

of all the companies listed on the

Clark County Detention Center

wall.

The source also mentioned that

Dean and his staff may be pushing

some of those “new clients” to re-

tain an attorney that is close to him;

and if that is true, he may be put-

ting the attorney in serious trouble

with the State Bar because that is

not acceptable by the Bar under its

rules and regulations.

The Cuban “big-mouth” that

answered the telephone when the

newspaper tried to talk to Tim Dean

may be jeopardizing his bail busi-

ness by not letting Dean know that

the Las Vegas Tribune wanted to

speak with him.

This newspaper has always been

on Dean’s side, but that was when

he was accessible to tell his side of

the history behind the story, and to

have his story treated fairly by of-

fering up the truth. Now, we don’t

know what to think. But we’re still

open to his side of the story.

By Las Vegas Tribune Staff

If memory serves people right

regarding the so-called “trial of the

year” of Sandra Murphy and Rich-

ard Tabish for the overdose-murder

of casino mogul Ted Binion, the

prosecutor in the case, David Roger,

went all out to make Sandy Murphy

into a stripper, at all costs.

It was convenient and important

for Roger to make Murphy appear

to be a gold-digging stripper in or-

der to win the case against her, for Ammar Harris

Harris no longer a pimp— he is now a molester

what was really a simple drug over-

dose, as ruled by police investiga-

tors when Binion’s body was found

in the living room of the home he

shared with his long time live-in

girlfriend, Sandra Murphy.

At that time, the Las Vegas Tri-

bune was the only newspaper in Las

Vegas that believed in the inno-

cence of the pair accused and found

guilty of Binion’s murder. That

guilty verdict opened the path for

the prosecutor to become the next

Clark County District Attorney.

Both Tabish and Murphy were sub-

sequently found not guilty after

appealing the jury verdict.

There was no record ever found

on Metro’s adult entertainment li-

censes or in Metro’s work card sec-

tion that Sandra Murphy was ever

employed as a stripper in any of the

local adult clubs, but it was impor-

tant for Roger’s political career and

ambitions to make it appear she

was.

Now the story is reversed in the

trial of Ammar Harris, the alleged

pimp that caused a tragic accident

on the Las Vegas Strip when he shot

at another alleged pimp on the cor-

ner of Las Vegas Boulevard and

Flamingo Road and a taxi driver

and passenger were killed as the(See Harris, Page 5)

Doug Gillespie’s “cop tax”encounters another delay

Commissioner Steve Sisolak

Sheriff Doug Gillespie

By Alexandra Cohen

De Oro Media Group

and Natasha Minsky

Las Vegas Tribune

It was business as usual Tues-

day at the county commissioners

meeting where Sheriff Doug

Gillespie and the county commis-

sioners were ready to take a vote

on the “more cops” tax item until

county commissioner Susan Brager

spoke.

In what appeared to be a com-

bined effort to find another “legit”

excuse to delay the vote one more

time, Commissioner Brager

dropped the ball with what ap-

peared to be a compromise, giving

the sheriff more money, but with

taxpayers coming out with less.

But whatever money the sheriff

gets is way more than what he de-

serves because the sheriff has not

shown any intention to cut down on

the present budget. It’s a proposal,

however, that would have the sher-

iff and taxpayers meeting halfway,

suggesting Las Vegas police trim

their budget, but still leaving tax-

payers with more to pay.

Sheriff Gillespie said the police

department has already had to make

too many cuts. “When you start

cutting more, you’re going to im-

pact services more. But I don’t think

we have to. I think there is an op-

tion on the table that would prevent

us from doing that.”

Commissioner Brager said she

would never support the sheriff’s

.15-cent sales tax increase.

And Commissioner Steve

Sisolak said he won’t support any

tax hike to pay for more cops.

The sheriff is asking for a .15-

cent increase. Commissioner Susan

Brager proposed a .075-cent tax

hike Tuesday. She says that is

enough to get Metro money.

The sheriff told the commission-

ers that his department “has already

made a substantial number of cuts

throughout the organization,” but

did not tell the board what or where

these cuts were.

Commissioner Chairman Steve(See Cop Tax, Page 6)

/ LAS VEGAS TRIBUNE / September 18-24, 2013

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STATEMENTWe search for the truth, em-

brace the truth, and print the truth.If we inadvertently print some-thing that is not true, we will letour readers know. We are open todocumented information to shedlight on any issue of concern toour readers. We are of service toour community, and it is our in-tention to serve our community

the best way we can.

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FOUNDERRolando Larraz

VOL. 15, NO. 28

PUBLISHERAND

EDITOR IN CHIEFRolando Larraz

GENERAL MANAGER

Perly Viasmensky

PRODUCTION

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TRIBUNE

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By Matt Sledge

Huffington Post

NEW YORK — The private eq-

uity-backed prison phone call in-

dustry is making plans to fight an

FCC vote last month that will slash

long-distance rates for inmates.

After a decade of delay, the FCC

voted 2-1 in August to set maxi-

mum rates for collect and prison

debit card calls. The new maximum

rate for a collect call will be 25 cents

a minute — still far above the aver-

age for a traditional landline, but a

serious reduction.

Prison phone call industry will fight newFCC rules lowering rates for inmates

In an interview with The

Huffington Post, the CEO of the

second-largest company in the $1.2

billion a year industry said he will

go to court to stop the still-

unreleased rules if they are issued

as described in an FCC press re-

lease. He also lashed out at the

industry’s critics.

“What we’ve built for the cor-

rections industry is very secure and

it helps solve tens of thousands of

crimes a year, and it helps save

thousands of lives a year,” claimed

Richard Smith of Securus Tech-

nologies, pointing to technology his

company uses to detect prisoners

ordering hits over the phone. “All

of that good work gets undone

when you paint us as bad guys who

are making lots and lots of money,

and we’re just raping the friends

and families of inmates.”

“It’s almost like throwing fire-

men and policemen under the bus;

it just isn’t fair,” Smith added.

The value of Securus debt

dropped about two percent in the

weeks after the FCC’s decision,

suggesting the market foresees a

modest but noticeable impact on the

company’s bottom line. The FCC’s

ruling will not impact local calls,

which make up the bulk of the mar-

ket.

After a decade-long period of

consolidation and mergers in the

industry, Securus and another com-

pany, Global-Tel-Link, control 80

percent of the prison phone call

market. Their success has rewarded

Currently serving the community

with the following programs:

Child Care

Education Dept.

SSVF for Veterans

Family development

RExO for Ex-offenders

The MLK Senior Center

Two WIC Nutrition Centers

Pearson Community Center

www.lvul.org — (702) 636-3949

Las Vegas Urban League...

Empowering Communities...

Changing lives!

private equity firms handsomely,

including Veritas Capital and an

investment arm of Goldman Sachs,

which jointly saw a reported three-

year, 325 percent gain when they

sold Global-Tel-Link in 2011.

Securus itself was recently sold

to private equity firmAbry Partners

in a reported $640 million deal.

NeitherAbry nor Global-Tel-Link’s

owner, American Securities, re-

sponded to requests for comment.

The industry’s profits have been

made, critics charge, on the backs

of poor, mostly black and Latino

inmates. Prison reform advocates

have quoted rates as high as $17 for

a single 15-minute phone call.

“It’s been times when she did

have to choose over paying for her

medication to talk to me, that re-

ally does happen,” Ulandis Forte, a

man convicted of murder whose

grandmother was the lead plaintiff

in a lawsuit over the sky-high phone

fees, said earlier this year. “I don’t

blame anybody for putting me in the

position I was in, wholeheartedly I

accept my responsibility, but in do-

ing so it was so unjust at the pain

my grandmother had to go

through.”

Studies have found a link be-

tween prisoners’ contact with fami-

lies back home and lower recidi-

vism rates.

The FCC said prison phone

companies’ rates were “exorbitant,”

an assertion supported by an analy-

sis conducted for reform advocates.

The rates are kept high by commis-

sions — critics charge they are es-

sentially kickbacks — that the

phone service providers pay to pris-

ons as part of their contracts. Pris-

ons then use those commissions to

avoid asking their states for more

tax revenues.

But Smith claimed that prison

advocates and Democrats at the

FCC were “embellish(ing)” the

profitability of his business, and

dismissed personal stories like

Forte’s. He also suggested prison-

ers’ families should easily be able

to pay what he charges, which ac-

cording to his company’s calcula-

tions averages out to $34 per inmate

per month.

“We see lots and lots of people

(visiting) jail who have one cellu-

lar, two cellulars, drive very nice

cars,” Smith said. “I’ve been in the

booking areas, I’ve seen lots and

lots of visitors in the waiting areas,

and every single person has at least

one cellular.”

In the wake of the FCC’s deci-

sion, Securus raised the fee it

charges families to deposit money

onto prisoners’ phone debit cards

over the phone from $7.95 to $9.95,

according to the Prison Policy Ini-

tiative, which pushed for the FCC

rule change.

“I can’t think of a business that

I use regularly that charges me a fee

to take my money,” wrote Peter

Wagner, the executive director of

the non-profit group. “Generally,

companies absorb those costs be-

cause they want my business. Be-

cause this industry has its custom-

ers locked in (pun intended), they

don’t have to worry as much about

competition.”

Smith said that the costly com-

missions keeping prison phone call

prices high are already written into

his contracts with prisons, meaning

the FCC’s caps will cut into the rev-

enues he expected to earn.

A FCC spokesman said the com-

mission still has yet to publish the

new regulations in the Federal Reg-

ister. Once they are published, the

rules will kick in after 90 days.

“Clearly we will file a lawsuit,”

if the new top rates don’t take into

account commissions, Smith said.

If the new rates remain, he predicted

higher local call fees and lower

commissions for prisons.

“It isn’t an altruistic business.

It’s a business for profit, and com-

mission is, for the last 20 years it’s

been the vehicle that prisons and

jails have asked for so we can pay

them part of revenue for every call

back to them,” Smith said. “That’s

just the business model.”

The Regional Transportation

Commission of Southern Nevada

(RTC) invites local elementary and

middle school students to submit

artwork to participate in its 7th an-

nual 2013 RTC Anti-Graffiti Art

Contest. This year’s theme is:

“Keep Southern Nevada Graffiti

Free.”

The RTC is challenging students

valley-wide to create artwork that

encourages Southern Nevadans to

respect each other’s property and

not devalue and deface it with graf-

fiti.

The grand prize winners’ art-

work will be unveiled this Decem-

ber during a special event hosted

by the winning school. The top en-

tries will also be featured on an

RTC vehicle and other transit

amenities for up to one year. Crime

Stoppers has also donated 10 shel-

ter ads through Outdoor Promo-

tions to display the Top 10 pieces

of art.

Artwork submitted for the con-

test must be an original concept, in

color; no black and white, photog-

raphy or glitter will be accepted.Art

tools may include markers, cray-

ons, colored pencils or paints. Stu-

dents must submit artwork on an

11-by-17-inch landscape piece of

paper to be considered in the con-

test.

The deadline for artwork is

Thursday, Oct. 17 by 5 p.m. It can

be mailed or hand-delivered to the

RTC Administrative Office, 600 S.

Grand Central Parkway, Suite 350,

Las Vegas, NV, 89106; Attention:

Aileen Pastor. Full entry details can

be found at rtcsnv.com. More in-

formation is also available through

Aileen Pastor via email at

[email protected] or by phone at

702-676-1735.

In its 7th year, the annual RTC

Anti-Graffiti Art Contest, the RTC

is partnering with the Southern

Nevada Graffiti Coalition, Las Ve-

gas Metropolitan Police Depart-

ment Graffiti Investigation Section,

Crime Stoppers, Outdoor Promo-

tions, Vector Media Las Vegas, and

the Clark County School District.

The RTC is the transit author-

ity, transportation planning agency

and regional traffic management

agency for Southern Nevada. The

RTC’s vision is to provide a safe,

convenient and effective regional

transportation system that enhances

mobility and air quality for citizens

and visitors. The RTC encourages

residents and visitors to use alter-

nate commute modes to help reduce

traffic congestion, clean the air and

improve the quality of life in South-

ern Nevada. RTC transit service

carried nearly 60 million passen-

gers last year and is one of the most

efficient transit systems in the na-

tion. For more information on the

RTC, visit rtcsnv.com or use your

mobile device to access the RTC’s

Ride Tracker, a GPS-based, mobile

website that enables transit riders

to easily see when buses are due to

arrive.

* * * * *

Do you know the two simple

steps of Hands-Only CPR? Then

you’re ready to help save a life. The

American Heart Association and

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue

September 18-24, 2013 / LAS VEGAS TRIBUNE /

CITY BEAT

RTC seeks elementary and middle schoolstudents for 7th annual anti-graffiti art contest

Shield Foundation have teamed up

to continue the national awareness

campaign and ongoing mobile tour

teachingAmericans how to perform

Hands-Only CPR to the beat of the

Bee Gees’ hit “Stayin’Alive.”

Sudden cardiac arrest is a lead-

ing cause of death with nearly

360,000 out-of-hospital cases oc-

curring every year in the United

States. When a teen or adult has a

sudden cardiac arrest, survival de-

pends on immediately receiving

CPR from someone nearby, espe-

cially since survival rates drop as

much as 10 percent for every

minute that goes by without inter-

vention. The Bees Gees’ hit song

“Stayin’Alive” has more than 100

beats per minute, which is the rate

you should push on the chest dur-

ing Hands-Only CPR.

“The iconic song’s beat is an

easy and fun way for people to re-

member the correct rhythm for CPR

chest compressions, and make them

feel more confident doing it,” said

Derek Cox, EMS Educator for Las

Vegas Fire and Rescue. “If you be-

gin Hands-Only CPR to the beat of

the Bee Gees’ ‘Stayin’ Alive’ im-

mediately on a teen or adult who

collapses from sudden cardiac ar-

rest, you can double or triple their

chances of survival.”

In fact, Hands-Only CPR has

been shown to be equally as effec-

tive as conventional mouth-to-

mouth CPR, and people are more

likely to feel comfortable perform-

ing it.A December 2012 study pub-

lished in the journal, Circulation

found that chest compression-only

CPR keeps more people alive with

good brain function after having a

sudden cardiac arrest.

The AHA’s Hands-Only CPR

tour will make a stop in Las Vegas

for an interactive training event

September 18-21, 2013 to teach

residents this easy-to-learn CPR

method. The event locations and

details are as follows:

—Wednesday, Sept. 18, 11:00

a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Freemont Street

Experience, 4th Street and

Freemont Street in front of Slotzilla

—Thursday, Sept. 19, 10:00 a.m.

to 2:30 p.m., City of Henderson,

240 S. Water Street, in front of City

Hall

—Friday, Sept. 20, 11:00 a.m. to

2:00 p.m., Findlay Volkswagen,

983 Auto Show Drive, Henderson

—Saturday, Sept. 21, 10:00 a.m.

to 2:30 p.m., AndreAgassi College

Preparatory Academy, 1201 W.

Lake Mead Blvd. Multi-purpose

Room

All events are open to the pub-

lic.

“Far too many people die each

year from sudden cardiac arrest, and

we are determined to help over-

come this public health crisis by

teaching Las Vegas residents the

two simple steps of saving a life,”

said Mike Murphy, President and

General Manager, Anthem Blue

Cross and Blue Shield in Nevada.

“We’re proud to support theAmeri-

can Heart Association’s Hands-

Only CPR campaign because we

know this program will help im-

prove survival rates among out-of-

hospital cardiac arrest victims and

give bystanders the confidence they

need to save a life.”

* * * * *

The Hagerty Driving Experience

Powered by Ford is partnering with

local classic car owners to provide

today’s youth, ages 15-25, a rare op-

portunity to receive hands-on in-

Contest promoting anti-graffiti will display student artwork on transit vehicles valley-wide; Artwork due Oct. 17

struction on how to drive some of

the most unique and iconic classic

cars on the road. Students will learn

the lost art of operating a manual

transmission, on a closed-course.

Created to give young drivers

the opportunity to experience dif-

ferent genres of classic and antique

cars, as well as foster interest in

classics for future generations, the

Hagerty Driving Experience aims

to address several areas of concern

regarding today’s youth:

—Lack of interest among teens

to obtain their licenses (according

to a recent University of Michigan

Transportation Research Institute

study, only 46 percent of 17-year-

olds in America have their driver’s

licenses, a 33 percent decrease since

1983).

—Today’s teens rarely have ac-

cess to manual transmissions —

more than 90 percent of new cars

sold in the U.S. are equipped with

automatic transmissions. This trend

greatly affects the skill set required

to drive classic cars, which are com-

monly equipped with manual trans-

missions.

Closed course driving with clas-

sic cars such as Fords, Porsches,

Chevrolets, and Dodges from the

1920s through the 1970s. Three

2013 Ford performance vehicles

will also be available for young

adults to drive.

WHEN: Saturday, September

21; 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Classroom and

drive sessions; Classic vehicles and

Hagerty representatives available

before/after event.

WHERE: Las Vegas Motor

Speedway, 7000 Las Vegas Blvd.

N., Las Vegas, NV 89115. Location

Map: http://goo.gl/maps/1df3H

Sign-Up: www.hagerty.com/

drivingexperience

* * * * *

7th Annual Safe Night (Hallow-

een Program) Tuesday, October 1,

6 p.m. - 9 p.m., Suncoast Hotel &

Casino. 9090 Alta Drive. Open to

the public.

Expo features: 50 business ex-

hibits, Face painting, Balloon art-

ist, Story time, live entertainment

and a costume contest for children

12 years and under. Don’t forget our

Chef’s Corner - serving tasty hot

samples for everyone! Plus the first

200 kids arriving will receive a

FREE Trick or Trick bag to collect

their treats from all the businesses

exhibiting at the event! It’s Safe

Night... for our children of Clark

County...

Free admission tickets are being

distributed at various locations

throughout Clark County (children

12 years and under are admitted

Free).

For more info call - (702) 639-

6964 or visit our website -

www.pjproduct ionl ive .com/

LVBNM.html

* * * * *

Jump for joy as Sky Zone Las

Vegas, the creator of the world’s

first indoor trampoline park, intro-

duces three new specials. Guests

can now keep their minds and bod-

ies active and energized during Fri-

day Family Night, Healthy Happy

Hour and Ultimate Dodgeball

Drop-In Nights.

—Friday Family Night—Fami-

lies can challenge gravity without

challenging their budget with a spe-

cial Friday Family Night package

from 6-10 p.m. featuring four 60-

minute jumps, four large fountain

drinks and four slices of pizza for

$60 (an $81 value). Last jump hour

takes place from 9-10 p.m. Must

keep receipt and show it at the Sky

Cafe to get pizza and drinks.

—Healthy Happy Hour — Stay

happy, healthy and hydrated with

60-minute jumps available for $12

Monday-Friday from 2-5 p.m. with

the last happy hour jump taking

place from 4-5 p.m.

—Ultimate Dodgeball Drop-In

Nights — Home of Ultimate

Dodgeball Championships where

the popular school-yard activity

gets taken to the extreme, young

and old alike are invited to partici-

pate in Ultimate Dodgeball Drop-

In Nights Tuesdays (ages 10-14)

and Thursdays (ages 15+) from 6-

8 p.m. Purchase two hours of

dodgeball for $15 or one hour for

$7.50. Allows access to dodgeball

courts only.

With more than 151 trampolines,

the new Sky Zone Las Vegas is a

27,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art indoor

trampoline park featuring wall-to-

wall active fun with a number of

new features including: the ultimate

3-D play experience with a variety

gravity-defying activities including

three Ultimate Dodgeball courts; a

SkySlambasketball court; additional

Foam Zone lanes where guests can

bounce from trampolines into a pit

of foam blocks; a Parents Lounge

offering free Wi-Fi and Satellite TV;

a Mezzanine and SkyBox overlook-

ing the courts as well as a SkyCafe.

Additional special events and

classes are also available. Some

blackout dates may apply. For com-

plete schedule and more informa-

tion on Sky Zone Las Vegas, please

visit www.skyzone.com/LasVegas.

* * * * *

City Beat is a compilation of

news and views of our editorial and

writing team, along with reader

submissions and topics. Readers

are invited to suggest a local topic

or any other items of interest.


lebrity helicopter ride (not to mention the previous $50,000 helicop-

ter engine burn-up failure on the ground, the soon-to-be-condemning

of the County Jail because of previous construction flaws and greasi-

ness; and now, the infamous “Sidewalk Chalking Power Wash Scan-

dal.

Yes, we remember it all and would be more than happy to share.

Those incidents and so much more are in the memory banks and

files of the Las Vegas Tribune and will be readily available on a regu-

lar basis, just in case the community forgets when Metro asks for

more money to continue their folly under this present and corrupted

police administration and its leadership.

Our $42 million sheriff now has the cojones to ask for more money

to support his criminal enterprise at the expense of this work- and

income-starved community. When is enough going to be enough?

Are we that ill-informed or are we just plain ignorant enough to

keep going along with the sheriff’s charade? What transparency? What

accountability? What common sense? What honor? Good God! When

are we going to stand up to this obvious shake-down with the threat of

less police protection if we don’t cough up some more money to fi-

nance our own eventual and imminent destruction?

The above abuses of authority are nothing new; it is just that they

were not addressed properly at the time that they occurred, and were

allowed to fade away without anyone being held accountable — in-

cluding the daily newspaper. The Sidewalk Chalking incident has re-

ceived more news coverage than the $42 million Police Scam, and

the price tag for that Sidewalk Chalking incident was boosted up to

$1,500 to make it a gross misdemeanor for utilizing a county power

washer, where a water hose and a stiff broom would have worked just

as well and usually does.

In reality, our esteemed DA Wolfson is probably now mentally

maxed out with trying to prosecute the “Sidewalk Chalkers,” while

the rest of the community is being daily raped by the street criminals

and the 400 plus criminal street gangs, or having the regular citizens

getting their heads kicked in on video by the local police.

We foresee a city or county ordinance being produced to prohibit

the use and possession of “sidewalk chalk” by persons 8 years old or

older without proper authorization and permits.

We are wondering if the Sidewalk Chalkers just made hopscotch

designs on the sidewalk, rather than word accolades, if they would

have been cited and arrested; sounds like a First Amendment issue

being formulated here.

We at the Las Vegas Tribune hope that the County Commission

takes everything into account when they decide on whether to up the

tax fees on the community for more money for more police, maybe

even for more “Sidewalk Chalk Police” and Celebrity Police Heli-

copter Pilots.

One quickie idea is to not buy any more police “tasers” (they don’t

work and are unreliable), and also make someone more accountable

for “proper” maintenance on all the patrol cars; and then maybe some

of that saved money could be used to buy practice ammunition for the

cops, since it is obvious they need the practice. If this were done,

there would not be any need to increase the tax burden if these two

expenditures were looked at a little more closely.

We hope that the community takes the time to examine the past

record of this Police Administration and to make a more informative

and intelligent selection when electing a new Sheriff of Clark County

in 2014. A person’s character is vitally important.

Analysis(Continued from Page 1)

Obama: Deficits falling at fastestrate since WWII. Is that really true?

By Peter Grier

Christian Science Monitor

WASHINGTON — PresidentObama on Monday boasted thatduring his time in office the USbudget deficit has been cut in half.In remarks commemorating thefifth anniversary of the onset of thefinancial crisis of 2008, Mr. Obamacited the deficit reduction as a signof progress for an economy that’sstill struggling towards full recov-ery.

“Our deficits are now falling atthe fastest rate since the end ofWorld War II. I want to repeat that.Our deficits are going down fasterthan any time since before I wasborn,” said Obama.

When you put it that way itsounds pretty impressive, doesn’tit? But is that true?

Strictly speaking, yes. The defi-cit is falling as rapidly as it has indecades. Consider the figures forthis year alone: Last week the Con-gressional Budget Office reportedthat, through the first 11 months offiscal 2013, the budget deficit wasdown 35 percent from the compa-rable period of 2012.

That’s a pretty steep decline.“The federal budget deficit has

fallen faster than we expected a fewyears ago,” wrote CBO directorDoug Elmendorf on his blog.

But as Mr. Elmendorf and otherexperts point out, one of the reasonsit is falling is because it shot up sohigh in the first place. As the finan-cial crisis devastated the economy,tax revenues fell. Spending on un-employment insurance and othergovernment recovery programsrose. In 2008, the deficit was about$458 billion. In 2009, it rocketedup to $1.4 trillion. It stayed abovethe trillion dollar mark for 2010through 2012.

As the economy has graduallyrecovered, those cyclical expenseshave receded. Tax revenues haverisen modestly along with theslowly rising GDP. The FY 2013shortfall should end up at around$642 billion, according to the CBO.

The sequestration automaticbudget cuts have also cut spending.However, the January fiscal cliffdeal which locked in the Bush-eratax cuts largely offset these savings,according to the Concord Coalition,a budget watchdog group.

“This year’s lower deficit can belargely attributed to short-term eco-

President Obama speaks about the economy in the South Court

Auditorium on the White House complex, Monday.

In a speech marking the fifth anniversary of the financial crisis,

President Obama claims credit for cutting the deficit in half. But

one reason it fell so fast is that it shot up so high in the first place.

nomic factors rather than systemicreforms in the federal budget,”writes the Concord Coalition’sSteve Winn.

Looking ahead, CBO nowprojects that the deficit will con-tinue to narrow until fiscal 2016,when it will again begin widening,as more and more baby boomersretire and become eligible for Medi-care and Social Security.

That means the nation’s fiscalproblems are far from solved. Thecore challenge involves trimmingfederal health-care costs enough tobend the curve of ever-rising Medi-care and Medicaid expense.

“The fundamental federal bud-getary challenge has hardly beenaddressed,” writes CBO chiefElmendorf.

Nor does it do anything about thedebt piled up during the recession’sworst years. The debt is the nation’saccumulated red ink; the deficit isthe amount of red ink Uncle Samruns up each year.

When the president proclaimsthat the deficit is shrinking at thefastest rate in decades, that’s thesame as saying that the speed atwhich the nation is rolling back-wards has decreased dramatically,wrote Keith Hennessey, director ofthe National Economic Councilunder President Bush, in May.

“That is not something youshould boast about. You’re sup-posed to boast when things are get-ting better, not when they’re gettingworse more slowly,” wrote Mr.Hennessey.


Phone: (702) 699-8111

taxi exploded when one of thecars hit the gas tank of the taxi.

The prosecutors now have to find reasons to pile up charges against

Harris to make him a convicted felon before the murder trial begins next

month.

The prosecution claims that he sexually assaulted a woman in the

shower while she was staying with him, but they couldn’t charge him

because the alleged victim disappeared; now, all of a sudden, the woman

magically reappeared.

First of all, people may wonder why a woman who was assaulted once

would stay to be assaulted again — and maybe again and again, with no

apparent intention to run from her assailant.

With the help of the mainstream media that apparently follows orders

of what to report and what to publish, the woman who just a couple of

weeks ago was a stripper is now what Channel 13 News referred to as “a

young lady.”

But what the public has not been told and the jury will never be al-

lowed to know is that the “young lady” that Channel 13 refers to is Har-

ris’ main lady, a known prostitute that earned five figures a month for

Harris.

As Judge Valerie Vega did with evidence in the Kirstin Lobato trial —

evidence that Lobato was not in Las Vegas when the murder she is now

paying for occurred — the prosecutors are working very hard now to hide

from the jury that “the young lady” sitting in court helping to build a case

against Harry is not an altar girl, and either the police or the prosecutor or

both may be holding some dirty laundry that belongs to her.

She is a well known prostitute who is very familiar with the vice unit,

and they with her, and she may even very well have trick-rolled some of

her clients into bringing the money to Harris, perhaps with the blessings

of law authority; but now is it’s time to pay the price.

The community must be made aware that criminals are allowed to be

criminals as long as they are willing to “cooperate” with investigators

and repeat (testify to) whatever is good for the investigators.

Harris(Continued from Page 1)

Navy Yard shooting: What to do aboutattacks on U.S. military on home soil?

By Anna Mulrine


WASHINGTON — Countless

questions remain unanswered about

the terrible slaughter of 12 people

Monday morning at the Washing-

ton Navy Yard in the nation’s capi-

tal by a 34-year-old former Navy

electrician, whom authorities have

identified asAaronAlexis. But what

is clear is that U.S. military instal-

lations — and the people who work

there — are increasingly being tar-

geted inside the nation’s own bor-

ders.

Monday’s attack, in which all

those killed worked for the military,

is the third in four years. The Pen-

tagon, which is less than 5 miles

from the navy yard, immediately

stepped up security “not out of a

specific threat, but as a proactive,

precautionary measure,” said Pen-

tagon press secretary George Little.

Defense officials, moreover, are

moving to evaluate protective mea-

sures that could be taken in the

longer term at other military instal-

lations in the region.

“It’s a shooting that targeted our

military and civilian personnel,”

President Obama said Monday at

the White House. “They know the

dangers of serving abroad, but to-

day they faced the unimaginable

violence that they wouldn’t have

expected here at home.”

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel

offered his sympathies for “the vic-

tims of this outrageous act of vio-

lence, their families, and all those

affected by today’s events.”

Monday’s horrific Washington Navy Yard shooting, which killed 12, is the third attack in four years on

U.S. military installations at home. Active-duty or former military men were behind all three cases.

Navy Yard workers, evacuated after the shooting, are reunited with loved

ones at a makeshift Red Cross shelter at the Nationals Park baseball

stadium near the affected naval installation in Washington, Sept. 16.

What prompted the suspect to

open fire at the navy yard before

8:30 Monday morning is unclear,

and the alleged gunman died at the

scene. The attack does not appear,

however, to be an act of terrorism,

say Department of Homeland Se-

curity officials.

Still, Eleanor Holmes Norton,

the District of Columbia’s delegate

to Congress, said, “We’ve not had

a day like this” in Washington since

the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Mr. Alexis served in the U.S.

Navy from May 2007 to January

2011, most of that time in Fort

Worth, Texas, according to a bio

sheet the Navy released late Mon-

day. Attached to the Fleet Logistics

Support Squadron (VR) 46, he

worked on the electric systems of

Navy airplanes, and by December

2009 had achieved the rank of avia-

tion electrician’s mate 3rd Class.

More recently, he was reportedly

employed by a private defense con-

tractor.

At MedStar Washington Hospi-

tal Center, where some of those in-

jured in the shooting were being

treated, U.S. military physicians

who rotate through the trauma cen-

ter to keep their skills sharp while

not at war are attending to their fel-

low U.S. troops, a hospital official

told reporters.

The tragedy comes less than a

month after a U.S. Army psychia-

trist — who had been promoted to

major before his conviction stripped

him of his rank — was sentenced

to death for the 2009 massacre of

13 people at the military base in

Fort Hood, Texas. Nidal Hasan, a

Muslim American, has said his

shooting was meant to prevent U.S.

troops, who were about to deploy

toAfghanistan, from killing Taliban

leaders and fighters upon their ar-

rival.

In 2010, the FBI investigated a

series of shootings at Marine Corps

facilities and the Pentagon in the

Washington, D.C., metropolitan

area. Shots were fired overnight

into windows of the Pentagon, re-

cruiting centers, and the National

Museum of the Marine Corps. No

one was injured in these shootings.

In June 2011, the FBI arrested a

22-year-old Marine reservist,

Yonathan Melaku, after he was dis-

covered inArlington National Cem-

etery with spray paint and a plan to

deface the tombstones of U.S.

troops who had served in Iraq and

Afghanistan. Bombmaking and ex-

plosives documents were later

found on his computer. Mr. Melaku,

a native of Ethiopia, enlisted in the

U.S. military in 2007 and became a

naturalized US citizen in 2009.

His family said his behavior

changed after he joined the Ma-

rines. Melaku himself told investi-

gators he was radicalized in 2003,

after the start of the Iraq war. In

January, a federal court sentenced

Melaku to 25 years in prison.

Monday’s attack on U.S. mili-

tary personnel took place at the

Naval Sea System Command’s

headquarters, a workplace for more

than 3,000 people responsible for

buying and maintaining the Navy’s

ships and submarines.

The headquarters, known as

NAVSEA, has a $30 billion-a-year

budget, about one-quarter of the

Navy’s annual spending, according

to a U.S. Navy spokesperson.

NAVSEA employs some 60,000

military service members, civilians,

and contractors around the country.


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EDITOR AT YOUR SERVICEEDITOR AT YOUR SERVICE

Sisolak spoke to the media on Tues-

day morning, before the meeting,

explaining what the Las Vegas Tri-

bune has been saying for a long

time, that the sheriff’s public infor-

mation office has more officers than

it needs and a civilian boss that does

not belong in there, giving the im-

pression that there could be a lot of

political support payback.

“As the Sheriff of Clark County,

I’ve got a huge amount of respon-

sibility, as well as my organization,

to provide a level of safety to, not

only the people who live and work

here, but the people who visit here;

and I believe this sales tax increase

would assist us in doing that,”

Gillespie said.

However, County Commission

Chairman Steve Sisolak did not ap-

pear at all pleased with yet another

sales tax increase on the people.

Whatever the commissioners

decide, spending at Metro will be

under the microscope.

Cop Tax(Continued from Page 1) Commissioner Sisolak wants no

increase at all. Commissioner

Brager supports coming to middle

ground. Commissioner Tom Collins

wants the full increase.

“We allocate a budget to Metro.

Metro has to learn to live within

[its] budget. We cannot continue to

raise taxes and put these increases

on the backs of people when we are

giving raises,” Sisolak said.

Citing examples such as a $42

million fiasco involving radios that

were a danger to the rank and file

when they did not do the job they

were supposed to do, and a helicop-

ter ride given to a Guns ‘N’ Roses

guitarist, Sisolak ended his com-

ment as a real public servant say-

ing he can’t help but question

Metro’s use of funds.

Commissioners will weigh all of

these options at another meeting

October 1.

Search and rescue intensifies amidColorado flood; death toll rises to 7

Nevada Task Force 1 team members preparing to leave Las Vegas to aid Colorado flood victims last week.

By Amanda Paulson


BOULDER, COLO. — Boul-

der, Colo., residents got a welcome

sight Monday morning: A little be-

fore 10 a.m., the sun poked through

the clouds, clearing the way for a

major rescue operation, with more

than 1,000 people being deployed

by air and on foot, to help evacuate

the stranded and to search for the

1,253 still unaccounted for.

Seven deaths are confirmed so

far, but that number may rise, offi-

cials warn, as efforts intensify to

find missing people.

Through Monday morning local

time, hundreds of Colorado Na-

tional Guardsmen and active-duty

Army soldiers from the Fourth In-

fantry Division had rescued nearly

2,200 people and about 500 pets.

Although operations were largely at

a halt Sunday, because of heavy

rain, rescuers saved 80 people

through ground operations, says Lt.

James Goff of the Colorado Na-

tional Guard.

“Right now, we’re trying to get

our priorities together for flights,”

says Goff, noting that the Guard has

19 helicopters ready to resume op-

erations in the foothills west of

Boulder. By late Monday morning,

Blackhawk and Chinook helicop-

ters were crisscrossing the skies

above Boulder, transporting

stranded residents out of the moun-

tains.

Among those air-lifted out over

the weekend were 85 fifth-graders

A break in the weather allowed search and rescue operations to resume Monday in flood-stricken parts of

Colorado. Seven people have died; 1,253 are unaccounted for. For many, air-lifts are the only way out.

and 14 adults who had been

stranded at an outdoor education

center in Jamestown, one of the

mountain towns hardest hit by the

flooding and now unreachable by

road.

Evacuation by air became the

best option after washed-out roads

and bridges left thousands of people

in the hills and canyons west of

Boulder — many without electric-

ity, or with flood-damaged homes

— with no other quick way out.

Authorities are asking stranded

residents to signal to passing heli-

copters by waving a light-colored

cloth; placing a large, light-colored

cloth or sheet on their roofs; wav-

ing flares; using mirrors to reflect

sunlight; or lighting safe signal

fires, and to have a “go bag” with

essentials prepared to take with

them.

Meanwhile, finding the hun-

dreds of people still unaccounted

for remains a top priority Monday,

according to the Boulder Office of

Emergency Management. Five

teams of detectives from the Boul-

der County sheriff’s office are “go-

ing out in the field, going door-to-

door as the situation allows, and

comparing the data with informa-

tion from shelters, emergency re-

sponse evacuations, and other

sources,” the office said in a release.

The number of people listed as

“unaccounted for” has been fluctu-

ating, and officials emphasize that

those people are not necessarily

considered to be “missing.”

Often, when people get dis-

placed suddenly, “they’re OK, they

don’t think anybody is concerned

about them,” said FEMAAdminis-

trator Craig Fugate during a press

conference Monday, as he urged

people to call in and let authorities

know they are safe. “That will help

the governor’s team focus on the

ones we’ve got to look for,” he said.

Even as search and rescue op-

erations resume, state and county

officials are beginning to survey the

extent of the damage and to priori-

tize rebuilding and cleanup — in-

cluding getting some major roads

passable again.

So far, some 14,500 people have

been evacuated from flooded areas,

and the state has said at least 1,500

residences were destroyed and

some 17,500 were damaged. The

state Department of Transportation

said 20 state bridges were destroyed

and 30 more need repair. But the

broader figure — taking into ac-

count county, city, and private

bridges that were damaged — is

between 80 and 100, Colorado Gov.

John Hickenlooper said in an inter-

view with NBC News on Monday.

“Today we continue to be fo-

cused on the search and recovery,

and that’s our highest priority..., but

even as we’re doing do that, it’s not

too early to be planning what the

recovery is going to look like,”

Governor Hickenlooper said Mon-

day in a press conference with

FEMA’s Mr. Fugate.

The light drizzle that fell over

Boulder through Monday morning

pushed the precipitation total to a

yearly record. More than 30 inches

of moisture have fallen in Boulder

to date, breaking the previous an-

nual record of 29.93 inches, set in

1995 — with more than three

months left in the year.

Nearly 15 inches of that total fell

last week.

Our Point of View

EDITORIALSA government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have. — Thomas Jefferson

Sheriff Douglas Gillespie keeps insisting the crime inClark County is way down, and every time he opens hismouth he reminds us of the fact that he is “doing a goodjob as Sheriff” and of course “the crime is down” in whatnew Las Vegans call “the Valley,” something they seem toinsist on calling our city.

It really does not matter anymore because he alreadyhas given the constituents in Clark County the good newsthat he no longer wants the job of crime boss.

Maybe after the end of his official reign, the populationin the Clark County Detention Center will also go downwhen the crime rate really goes down.

Maybe, before he goes, Sheriff Gillespie will be able toexplain to the community why the county jail is so over-crowded if crime is down.

Perhaps Sheriff Gillespie can explain to this commu-nity why — in only one short week — “his” newspaperhas published more than a dozen reports of crime, makinghim look like a liar despite his arrogant statements to thecontrary.

—Man shot in robbery near Boulder Highway.—Gunshot victim identified, suspect charged because

he did not try to run.—Wife’s death a homicide, husband ruled suicide.—Shotgun blast proves fatal in roommates’ argument.—Two indicted in beatings at Canyon Springs High.—Police looking for victims in alleged real estate

scheme.—Three indicted on charges related to mobile home fire.—Suspect in child pornography case escapes house ar-

rest.—LV police officer responds to call, gets wounded by

gun.—Bomb threats phoned in to Kmart, Dollar General

Stores.These are just a few briefs that Sheriff Gillespie’s news-

paper prints to give the impression that they also are doinga good job in the community.

Some of these crimes have been solved thanks to goodpolice work, but the fact remains that crimes have existedand still exist, while the Sheriff misleads the communityby saying that crime is down.

There are also other crimes with larger headlines, suchas “FBI target committed suicide,” and others that are notpublicized by the Sheriff’s newspaper, apparently the onlynewspaper we may now have.

While the Sheriff and his newspaper play games withthe members of this community, insulting their intelligenceand diverting their attention from more important issues,those issues continue to affect everyone.

Why doesn’t Sheriff Douglas Gillespie release the banon “his” newspaper and allow it to report on the federallawsuit filed by Detective Gordon Martines that includeshim and fourteen of his high-ranking staff for many rea-sons and violations of the law?

Can Sheriff Gillespie explain to the voters in ClarkCounty why “his” newspaper has not reported one wordon such an important issue as the one that is taking placein the Federal Courthouse?

Can Sheriff Gillespie explain to the Clark County com-munity why he so abruptly decided to announce that he isnot going to seek a third term as sheriff and just give up allthat power and control he so much enjoys?

Amongst all of the past and present criminal cover-upsthat have yet to be resolved, we can list: the lies,disinformation, complete falsehoods, malicious prosecu-tions, civil rights violations, wrongful terminations, crimi-nal coercions, nepotisms, conspiracy to commit murder,conspiracy to commit continual criminal offenses, coveredup police employee domestic violence offenses, coveredup police employee narcotics offenses, participation in andconspiracy associated with the HOA Scandal, manipula-tion and coercion of city and county business licenses, mis-handling and attorney collusion of worker compensationcases etc., etc.

The Sheriff cannot deny that he has been running thiscommunity with an iron fist, making this community afraidof the police — creating a police state similar to that in acountry where even the dictator’s own force of men andwomen are afraid of the retaliation if they speak their mind.

It is very important to this newspaper to reassure thecommunity that contrary to the label that Sheriff DouglasGillespie tries to place on us of being an anti-police news-paper, nothing is further from the truth.

This newspaper is anti-police CORRUPTION, and weare very well aware that our police department is amongthe best in the country and that the only thing damagingthe integrity and reputation of the rank and file is the ad-ministration.

We have to remember what a New York Police Depart-ment detective once said: “Police corruption cannot existunless it is at least tolerated by higher levels in the depart-ment.”

Sheriff Gillespie’sHouse of Glass


Justice may be “blind,” but judgesmust keep their eyes wide open

By Perly Viasmensky

Many times we wonder what might be worse: a

prosecuting attorney who wants to win a case at any

price, even at the expense of an innocent person, or a

defense attorney who wants to win a case for the price

paid by a defendant who is out to fool the court to a

very great extent.

On August 19, 2007, a shooting took place in front

of Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville Restaurant at 3555

Las Vegas Blvd. South, inside the Flamingo Hotel and

Casino, which started with a fight between feuding

gangs.

Four innocent bystanders — three of them tourists

— were injured by the gunfire. One of them was a

young woman, Brittany O’Dale, who was in Las Ve-

gas celebrating her bachelorette party when she was

shot in her leg by a bullet shot by Robert Jackson.

Jackson was identified as the shooter by Eric Pratt,

who testified before a grand jury that he witnessed

Jackson, who was wearing a green, collared shirt, fire

into the crowd.

According to investigators the green shirt was re-

covered from a trash can and Jackson’s DNA was

found on the shirt.

Jackson was arrested in Chicago, Illinois and ex-

tradited to Las Vegas almost three months ago. Dis-

trict Judge Linda Bell set his bail at $1 million. Judges

have lowered his bail several times as the case has

lingered in the courts since his arrest in 2011.

Finally he was put under house arrest, which in-

cludes a monitoring bracelet and a 6 p.m. curfew.

During his time on the lam, Jackson lived in New

York, Florida and Washington, and changed his name.

At the time of his arrest, he claimed that his name was

Sa-El and that he had diplomatic immunity because

he was a member of the Moorish Nation, a religious

group based in Chicago.

Jackson’s defense attorney, Tom Pitaro, who we

have to admit is a very good attorney, said in court

documents that Jackson was unaware there was a war-

rant for his arrest and he was moving around “trying

to figure out what he wanted to do with his life.” The

attorney also said that Jackson needed to be released

from house arrest because he needs to take care of his

elderly grandparents and that his wife is expecting their

second child and he needs to move freely to be with

her.

Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez recently released Jack-

son from the confines of house arrest and he is now

free on $250,000 bail.

These are the times when I wish I could be a

mindreader to find out what these judges have in place

of brains.

And with all due respect to Mr. Pitaro, I wonder if

he could tell us who was taking care of Jackson’s sup-

posed elderly grandparents while he was running from

state to state, enjoying his life, making love to his girl-

friend (now his wife) and procreating children; and how

his release seems justified while Brittany O’Dale, who

continues to suffer pain as a result of her injury from

Jackson’s irresponsible shooting into the crowd, and

who now has a titanium rod from her knee to her ankle,

has had to pay thousands of dollars in ongoing medi-

cal bills, and has even seen her marriage fail.

How can these judges allow anybody to fool them

with the statement that Robert Jackson was not aware

there was a warrant for his arrest when his case had

been featured on “America’s Most Wanted” five times

and he was named in the U.S. Marshals’ 15 most wanted

fugitives? Oh yes, Jackson was too busy traveling and

making children.

Jackson’s trial has been delayed three times and is

now set for June 2014. I can feel the frustration of the

Clark County prosecutors and hope they don’t have to

see this case fall through the cracks with the blessing

of some judges.

The names of those judges should be remembered

next year during their reelection campaigns.

Perly Viasmensky is the General Manager of the

Las Vegas Tribune. She writes a weekly column in this

newspaper. To contact Perly Viasmensky, email her at

pviasmensky@lasvegas tribune.com.

his good graces; between the frog and the princess, for

him to feel justly compensated for completing his end

of the bargain; and between the frog-prince and the

princess, to take advantage of the circumstances in

which they found themselves, even if initiated by, and

with the nudging and blessing of, the king.

And so they found themselves to be a couple and

presumably lived happily after, even though we never

did get to read any stories about what happened after

the princess married the prince.

Then along comes real life. There are very few

princes and princesses out there in real life, and even

fewer princes who have been turned into a frog by a

wicked fairy — especially one who additionally tacks

on to that spell the proviso that there’s only person who

can ever break that spell — and even then, it must be

done in a very particular way.

But while there are plenty of “ordinary” and/or

beautiful women and “ordinary” and/or wealthy men

who are hoping to find each other in this far-from-fairy-

tale-fantasy kind of real world (that might be the good

news), meeting just the right person and feeling the

ON A PERSONAL NOTE

By Maramis

Once upon a time, there was a

beautiful princess who was so lovely

to look at that the sun itself took spe-

cial pleasure in shining upon her face.

She lived in her father’s palace near

a deep, dark forest that sheltered an

old stone well, which was so deep

one could never see the bottom.

The princess loved to sit by the

well in the cool shade and play with

her favorite toy, a golden ball. One

day when she was playing, the ball

fell from her hand and tumbled into

form by her kindness.

What is generally not noticed, or

perhaps is deliberately downplayed,

is that it is her father who wants her

to take this prince to be her husband

and companion, even though she

might already be finding herself very

attracted to his charming good looks.

And therein we have several ex-

amples of the concept of a mutually

beneficial arrangement:between the

princess and the frog, in order for her

to get her ball back; between the prin-

cess and her father, for her to stay inthe well. The princess cried bitterly at its loss.

“What’s the matter?” came a croaky voice from

nearby.

“Oh, it’s you!” said the princess to the talking frog.

When the princess explained what was wrong, the

frog told her he knew just what to do to get her ball

back, but first she had to promise something in return.

“Anything,” she replied. “You can have my jewels

or even the crown upon my head.”

“All I want,” the frog said, “is for you to be fond of

me and let me be your playmate. Let me sit by your

side, share your dinner, and sleep in your bed... then I

will go down the well and fetch your ball.”

The princess agreed, thinking the frog would never

really be the companion of a human being.

As the story goes along, we find that her father, the

king, insists that she keep her promise to the frog, no

matter what. With great distaste for being a slimy

creature’s friend, she lives up to her word. But in the

end — as if we, the readers, didn’t know what was

coming — we discover that the frog is really a prince

who was put under a spell by a wicked fairy and only

the princess herself could return him to his princely

Mutually Beneficial Arrangements:From Fairy Tales to Real Life

MARAMIS CHOUFANI

(See Maramis, Page 9)

complex. The point being;

don’t dwell too long on

who messed up but rather

channel your energies on

what to do next.

Attack bad attitudes.

In order to coalesce

team members around a

new culture of excellence

and move past a blame

game mentality you must

address bad attitudes.

“Your attitude, not your

aptitude, will determine

your altitude,” stated Zig

BEHIND THE MIKE

Medical AdviceBy Michael A. Aun

My lovely daughter in

law, Jessica, is in her fourth

year of medical school and

will shortly begin her resi-

dency. She’s currently

working in various hospi-

tals in the Philadelphia

area.

People who pursue

medicine can be guaran-

teed several things beside

huge student loan repay-

ments. First, the process is

difficult and demanding.

My wife Christine is a nurse. My son Chris-

topher is also a Registered Nurse, staffing

an emergency room in Orlando.

As difficult as the process is for doctors

and nurses, it’s not lost on them that they

should always look for the humor of their

profession.

Christopher often tells me about the wild

and crazy stuff he faces in his ER. So many

uninsured people use the ER as their per-

sonal doctor, and they can’t be turned away.

They expect you to put your stroke victim

on hold while you care for the scratch on

their pinky finger.

Christopher, who we nicknamed “Gutt,”

tells me that he has come to the realization

that he’ll touch anything as long as he has

gloves on. Jessica actually did a tour of duty

at Christopher’s ER in east Orlando, the

city’s busiest.

After watching House, Grey’s Anatomy

and a handful of other medically related

programs on television, you note that there

is more humor in it than you might imag-

ine.

Knock-knock jokes are common.

Knock-Knock. Who’s there? HIPPA.

HIPPA who? Sorry, I can’t tell you that.

Humor is the fuel that drives the engine

of getting through a medical education. By

the time medical students finish one semes-

ter of study, much of what they learned last

semester is now obsolete. That’s why it’s

critical to keep the ax sharpened.

Christine used to regale me with stories

about how she and the other first year nurses

always got the short end of the stick,

whether it was working all holidays to hav-

ing to do the graveyard shift because they

were at the bottom of the medical food

chain.

Sir William Osler was quoted in Women

in Medicine (1968) that there are three

classes of human beings; men, women and

women physicians.

Sir William has never

had a chance to meet my

daughter-in-law but I’m

sure he’d come away

finding that Jessica is an

intelligent and thought-

ful person, a trait that

many physicians don’t

possess. I feel she would

treat the patient, not the

disease.

I’m not quite sure

with Sir William meant

but he also said “A phy-

sician who treats himself

has a fool for a patient.”

In the end, there are very few medica-

tions that exist that are better than hope.

One of the greatest gifts physicians can af-

ford patients is hope. Woody Allen once

quipped “I’m not afraid of death. I just don’t

want to be there when it happens.”

Hospitals tend to be scary places for a

lot of us, either because of the stuff that

goes on inside or the bill that follows a stay.

Groucho Marx once joked that “A hospital

bed is a parked taxi with the meter run-

ning.”

Of all the talents I would hope my doc-

tors would have, the greatest would be their

ability to listen and empathize with my

problems. I’m not there for a social visit.

Most patients will diagnose themselves

if the doctor asks the right questions. I

would also hope that they will exercise

some restraint. Sometimes I think I’m per-

sonally keeping the pharmaceutical firms

in business. As a patient, I don’t see medi-

cine strictly as science; it is also art.

The secret of great doctoring (known

only to their spouses and still hidden from

the general public) is that most things get

better by themselves. In the end, laughing

is the cheapest medicine of all and that’s

why it’s so critical to find humor in the

workplace.

Three pieces of advice for not just doc-

tors but also patients: 1- Never be afraid to

say what’s in your mind. 2- Never be afraid

to do what’s in your mind. 3- Never take

life advice from a facebook status.

In the end, perhaps Edward Everett Hale

said it best. “In the name of Hypocrites,

doctors have invented the most exquisite

form of torture ever known to man: sur-

vival!”

Michael Aun is a syndicated columnist

and writes a weekly column for this news-

paper. To contact Michael Aun, email him

at [email protected].

MICHAEL A. AUN

5 Rules of the Blame Game

By Chuck Muth

Republicans only have

one woman in the state

Senate, Barbara Cegavske,

and she’s termed out after

this year. In the Assembly,

the GOP only has two

women — conservative

Michele Fiore and moder-

ate Melissa Woodbury.

But that situation could

change dramatically next

year.

While Cegavske will

Dr. Robin Titus is al-

most a shoe-in to replace

moderate Assemblyman

Tom Grady in the District

38 seat in Lyon County.

Lisa Krasner has an

excellent shot at knock-

ing off moderate Assem-

blyman Randy Kirner in

the GOP primary next

year for his strongly Re-

publican District 26 seat

in Reno.

Jill Dickman is a long-

leave, it is well-known that Senate Minor-

ity Leader Moderate Mike Roberson is sin-

gularly intent on anointing a woman can-

didate to replace her, any woman, no mat-

ter how under-qualified said woman might

be when compared to the impressive po-

litical resume of Assemblyman John

Hambrick, who is very interested in the seat

and highly deserving of a shot at it.

Similarly, in the Senate District 9 race

against incumbent Democrat Justin Jones,

Roberson is also trolling for a woman can-

didate and may have settled on Becky Har-

ris — a failed Assembly candidate in 2012

who doesn’t even live in the district but is

able to move there. And there’s also Mari

St. Martin, who ran for that seat last year

and might want to give it another go.

Meanwhile, a number of promising con-

servative women are stepping up to the plate

in state Assembly races and could signifi-

cantly boost the roster of members of the

fairer sex.

Assemblywoman Michele Fiore is likely

to hold onto her seat despite rumored ef-

forts by some moderates in her caucus to

field a primary challenger against her in the

District 4 race in Las Vegas.

time GOP activist in Reno who has a great

shot at knocking off incumbent Assembly-

man Skip “Union Label” Daly, the only

Democrat currently representing a GOP-

majority district.

Rumors continue that moderate Assem-

blywoman Melissa Woodbury of

Henderson might make a run for state Con-

troller, or even just retire outright. If so,

conservative Amy Groves, who unsuccess-

fully ran in 2010 in a huge D-majority dis-

trict, has property in District 23 and is seri-

ously considering running there.

And Victoria Seaman, also an unsuc-

cessful candidate in 2010, told me Friday

night she intends to run to replace Demo-

crat incumbent Assemblyman William

Horne, who is termed out of his District 34

seat in Las Vegas.

And I’m sure there are others yet to

come.

So not only could the GOP caucuses

become more conservative for the 2015

session, it’s likely to look a lot better, too!

Chuck Muth is president of Citizen Out-

reach, a non-profit public policy grassroots

advocacy organization. He may be reached

at [email protected].

Year of the(GOP) Woman

CHUCK MUTH


Weird lawsBy Mace Yampolsky

I know I have written

about goofy laws in the

past, but it has been a

while so here are some

new ones.

Alabama — State code

allows only five (5) min-

utes for one to vote.

Source: Section 17-9-13 of

Alabama Code

Arkansas — Arkansas

drive-ins aren’t very con-

venient, thanks to this

law... No person shall drive a motor vehicle

onto the premises of a drive-in restaurant

and leave the premises without parking

such motor vehicle, unless there is no un-

occupied parking space available on the

premises. Source: Code 1961, ?? 25-

156?25-158 Sec. 18-54. Sounding of horns

at sandwich shops. No person shall sound

the horn on a vehicle at any place where

cold drinks or sandwiches are served after

9:00 p.m. Source: Code 1961, ? 25-74

California — In Los Angeles, it is not

legal to bathe two babies at the same time

in the same tub. In Riverside, kissing on

the lips, unless both parties wipe their lips

with carbonized rose water (I guess Evian

won’t cut it!) is against the local health or-

dinance. In Walnut, no person shall wear a

mask or disguise on a public street without

a permit from the sheriff. Source: 17-32

Mask or disguise-wearing. In Walnut, it

shall be unlawful for any person to fly

above an altitude of ten feet above the

ground, or near any electrical conductive

public utility wires or facilities, any kite or

balloon which has a body or any parts, tail,

string or ribbon. Source: 17-1 Kite flying

restricted

China — According to a law in China,

you must be intelligent to go to college.

Guess the guy who wrote this did NOT go

to college.

Colorado — Colorado Water Laws pro-

hibit the use of rain barrels or any methods

to catch rain for use. They claim the rain

has already been legally allocated to the

state and individuals may

not capture and use water

to which he/she does not

have a right. (I wonder if

you can open your mouth?)

New Laws passed in June

2009 eradicate this law.

Connecticut — No

hanky-panky allowed in

Connecticut. A person who

commits any unnatural and

lascivious act with another

person commits a misde-

meanor of the second de-

gree, punishable as provided in s. ??? It is

illegal for unmarried couples to commit

lewd acts and live together (who would

complain?) Source: 775.082 or s. 775.083

Illinois — A state law requires that a

man’s female companion shall call him

“master” while out on a date. (This will go

over like a pregnant pole vaulter.) The law

does not apply to married couples. In Zion,

It is illegal for anyone to give cats, dogs,

or other domesticated animals a lighted ci-

gar.

Indiana — In Indianapolis, no horse

shall be driven or ridden on any street in

the city at a speed in excess of ten (10) miles

per hour. Source: Code 1975, ? 29-5

Iowa — In Ottumwa, it is illegal for any

man, within the corporate city limits, to

wink at any female with whom he is “un-

acquainted.”

Kansas — In Topeka, servers are for-

bidden to serve wine in teacups. (The

French salute you!)

Kentucky — A female shall not appear

in a bathing suit on any highway within this

state. Section 1376m-1, 1376m-2 Re-

pealed: January 1, 1975

Louisiana — In Mansfield, anyone

caught wearing sagging pants that expose

underwear will be subject to a fine of up to

$150 plus court costs, or face up to 15 days

in jail. A court later overturned the law, de-

claring it unconstitutional. In New Orleans,

Fire Code outlaws the cursing of

firefighters while they are in the perfor-

MACE YAMPOLSKY

By Doug Dickerson

A good leader takes a

little more than his share of

the blame, a little less than

his share of the credit. —

Arnold H. Glasow

John Killinger tells a

story about the manager of

a minor league baseball

team who was so disgusted

with his center fielder’s

performance that he or-

dered him to the dugout

and assumed the position

himself.

The first ball that came into center field

took a bad hop and hit the manager in the

mouth. The next one was a high fly ball,

which he lost in the glare of the sun and it

bounced off his forehead. The third was a

hard line drive that he charged with out-

stretched arms; unfortunately, it flew be-

tween his hands and smacked his eye. Fu-

rious, he ran back to the dugout, grabbed

the center fielder by the uniform, and

shouted, “You idiot! You’ve got center field

so messed up that even I can’t do a thing

with it!”

The coach in the story reminds us of the

type of culture we live in. The blame game

is easy to play and in the end really serves

no meaningful purpose. But as a leader if

you want to grow, move your organization

forward, and create a culture of excellence

it’s going to require a different mindset in

order to pull it off. Here are my five rules

of the blame game that can help you navi-

gate your way forward.

Begin with yourself.

In a “blame others first” culture this is

where you are set apart as a leader. The ten-

dency is to find someone to be the “fall guy”

when things go south, but the leader steps

up and takes responsibility. When you

shoulder the responsibility as the leader you

demonstrate that you are with and for your

team not just in the good times but also

when the chips are down. A good leader

takes personal responsibility for his orga-

nization.

Look for solutions.

Once responsibility has been taken it’s

then time to move beyond “who to blame”

and work on solutions. This can be as

simple as diagnosing a poor communica-

tion problem or perhaps something more

Ziglar. Bad attitudes will ground your or-

ganization and will be the single greatest

challenge to your leadership. The work of

your team will be a reflection of their atti-

tudes.Attack bad attitudes, keep yours posi-

tive, and change your culture.

Manage mistakes wisely.

The way you mange mistakes can pay

great dividends but it all depends on how

you handle it. Rather than demoralizing the

offender with a wrong response why not

use the opportunity to do something con-

structive? As a leader, how you handle the

mistakes of others speaks volumes about

what’s most important to you. Those who

blame belittle. Be a leader who encourages

and turns the mistakes into something posi-

tive.

Examine motives.

Understanding the blame game begins

with identifying the motives for blaming

others. Possibilities might include profes-

sional jealousy, subtle expressions of bul-

lying, deflection off of one’s own insecuri-

ties, etc. By examining the motives of those

caught in playing the blame game card you

can learn a lot about the inner workings of

your organizational dynamics and patterns.

As a leader you need to have a handle on

what is taking place in order to correct it.

Playing the blame game is too easy.

Leading up is hard. Your leadership will

rise when you rise up and do the right thing.

If you want a better way forward then stop

with the blame game.

What do you say?

Doug Dickerson is a syndicated colum-

nist. He writes a weekly column for this

newspaper. To contact Doug Dickerson,

email him at ddickerson@

lasvegastribune.com.

DOUG DICKERSON

VIEW POINTSEditors note: The views expressed are entirely those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Las Vegas Tribune.

(See Mace, Page 9)


NORMAN JAHN

Power: To The Protégé or ProgenyBy Norman Jahn

Former Sheriff Bill Young was

on the Jon Ralston show on a re-

cent Friday. He explained how he

was not planning to run for the of-

fice again (there was some specu-

lation from a prior interview that he

might want to retrieve the power he

had when he ran Metro). He said

he had confidence that current as-

sistant sheriff Joe Lombardo would

soon be making the decision to de-

clare his candidacy. Young said he

had total confidence in Lombardo...

isn’t that what we were told when

Young handed the job to Doug

Gillespie during the 2006 election?

I didn’t hear the phrase, “he gets

it” during the Ralston interview.

Maybe I missed it. This is the de-

scription that Young and the ‘good

old boys’ use when they are not ar-

ticulate enough to describe the

qualifications and merits of the per-

son they are praising. Or maybe

there aren’t very many actual quali-

fications and merits for the person,

so they don’t have that much to ar-

ticulate. One way or another, if

Lombardo decides to run for sher-

iff, we should learn just what it is

that makes him qualified to be the

Clark County Sheriff. If someone

describes to you that this or that

person should be the next sheriff by

saying “He gets it,” that is merely

code for “He is one of us.”

Young also criticized Assistant

Sheriff Ted Moody for the circum-

stances of his departure. I guess his

abrupt resignation complicated the

entire plan that those in power had

put in place. Moody had been in the

good old boys group for many

years, but now they’re going to

vilify him? That is sad! Young used

the word ‘orchestrated’ (or some-

thing to that effect) when he de-

scribed how Moody used the

Roston/Use of Force incident to

separate himself from the current

administration and how he led a

group of Use of Force Board mem-

bers to resign all at once. If I took

careful notes of every statement

Young made, and they were put to

a credibility check, we would see

why it is a good thing that Young is

not running. He called me a liar and

a fraud when he commented on my

column several weeks ago; but

when I made everyone aware that I

still have the actual emails that were

generated back then, he may have

realized that his memory has faded.

What did I ever do to Bill Young to

have him call me these things?

There was also a recent story

about whether we should even have

an elected sheriff in Las Vegas. It

would require a change in the law

in Nevada to find another way to

find a leader for the LVMPD, so that

is probably not going to happen for

years. There probably is a better

way to find a leader... but we live

in a democracy and the head of

county law enforcement has been a

sheriff all the way back to early

times. Voters are not always fully

informed. Money can buy political

office. The influence of consultants,

advertising firms, and the power of

the hotel/casino industry are much

more likely to select— not elect —

the next sheriff. Voters by the thou-

sands will turn out and the votes

will be tallied... but how will they

make their decisions?

When the term ‘good old boys’

or ‘good old boys system’ is used

in conversation, do people realize

that it does not apply to just males

or all ‘guys’ in general? I was a

member of the LVMPD for over 21

years. I don’t think you will find

anyone who will describe me as one

of the ‘good old boys’... Many of

the current and former members of

the LVMPD will have their own

opinion of who belongs to the ‘good

old boys system’ and this is prob-

ably not unusual in any organiza-

tion. It might be just part of human

nature to realize that people in

POWER want to maintain their

positions in the existing organiza-

tional structure. If we perceive that

we don’t fit into that group, then we

don’t think we are a ‘good old boy’

even though we are male. The

group with the power is more like

the most powerful ‘tribe’ on a SUR-

VIVOR television show. If we are

in power we want to take care of

our own and maintain that power.

Dictionary.com defines a good

old boy as: a male who embodies

the unsophisticated good fellowship

and sometimes boisterous sociabil-

ity regarded as typical of white

males of small towns and rural ar-

eas of the South. A second defini-

tion is: a person who belongs to a

network of friends and associates

with close ties of loyalty and mu-

tual support. Other definitions in-

clude: preservation of social elites

in general... and... when used as a

pejorative... someone who engages

in cronyism among men who have

known each other for a long period

of time (Good Ol’ Boy Network).

It is this negative interpretation

(cronyism) that is what we need to

avoid in the selection of the next

sheriff. This is important because

the sheriff can ‘appoint’ any of the

current captains to higher positions

(Deputy Chief, Assistant Sheriff,

and Undersheriff). He (or she) will

have the power to promote and cre-

ate a significant new power struc-

ture — or keep the current good old

boys in place.

There has been recent discussion

in Dallas, Texas about the creation

of a new rank between lieutenant

and deputy chief. The union is call-

ing for the end of the “good ole

boy” system and says instead to

choose proven strong leaders for

appointed ranks: “During the past,

some people have been promoted

through what some call the ‘good

ole boy’ system (i.e. friends of the

Chief), resulting in some being pro-

moted without regard to their ex-

perience or length of time in a lead-

ership position.” People tend to

want to avoid being classified as

part of the good old boys system

these days. I think they want to have

their actual qualifications and mer-

its considered; it should not be who

you know — it should be what you

know!

One day, an officer who I

worked with told me that he heard

that I was once a ‘rising star’ and a

‘golden child.’This was a reference

to my first career at Metro. I never

felt that I was in the Moran clique,

the Keller clique, the Young clique,

VIEW POINTSEditors note: The views expressed are entirely those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Las Vegas Tribune.

connection may be far more difficult than it ever was for a princess to

make nice to a frog (that would be the not-so-good news).

Then along comes SeekingMillionaire.com and

SeekingArrangement.com. Just a couple of the several relatively new

websites for those who wish to meet up with the person of their choice.

Dating websites have been around for quite some time now, and those

seeking an opportunity to meet someone have many options at their

fingertips. The key word though is “opportunity,” since there are no

guarantees that anyone a seeker would be interested in would neces-

sarily be interested in them. Of course it would feel like “rejection” all

over again, but at least it would be a more or less private rejection, and

possibly even allow you, the one being rejected, to reevaluate what

might make you less than desirable. It could be worth a try.

But “dating,” some might think, is not the right word to use for

some of these websites. Some might feel they should come right out

and call them SeekingPartner websites. Maybe, from the woman’s point

of view, some men might just want to go straight for that kind of rela-

tionship and bypass the whole dating thing. No romance; no court-

ship; no falling in love; no niceties. They meet, they see that the other

is passable and likable enough, and they arrange to get married. That’s

that. They both get what they want: a spouse. A partner for life. Maybe

a stepmother or stepfather for their children. Maybe someone to keep

them from feeling so lonely. In any regard, they get married or coupled.

End of story.

But what about all those others who feel they have a whole lot

more to offer than most of the so-called “ordinary” people on most of

those websites? What about men who feel they have so much they can

offer a woman, but they’d expect the woman to offer them back a

whole lot too? What about women who feel they are more beautiful

and sexy than average women and want a man who can appreciate

that — one who will not expect them to get married, to give up all

their glamour to have children and become “ordinary housewives”?

Why shouldn’t those kinds of people be able to cut to the chase to find

each other?

Well, whether or not they could before, they can now. Enter Bran-

don Wade and his visionary websites geared for those who are pre-

dominantly young, beautiful and sexy, or very wealthy and eager to

share it with “the right person.”

It all came to my attention last week when Brandon’s public rela-

tions manager, Leroy, emailed me a press release:

I thought you’d be interested to know that Las Vegas ranks 9th for

the most eligible millionaires in the country.

Of the over 316 million people that live in the US, only 9 million

are actual millionaires. Of these 9 million wealthy, only a fraction are

single and looking for long-term relationships.

SeekingMillionaire.com decided to separate the “Clooneys” from

the “Prince Charmings” by polling over 100,000 of its own million-

aires and asking for their intentions in dating.

The site discovered that 89,503 millionaires are marriage-minded

and looking for a long-term commitment, with 664 eligible million-

aires residing in Vegas. This would be an interesting statistic to share,

especially to the local women who are still looking for their “happily-

ever-after.”

It sounded like something I might investigate — for the good of the

local women still seeking their “happily-ever-after” — so I made an

appointment through Leroy to talk to Brandon and find out what his

particular websites were all about. And so he educated me.

SeekingMillionaire.com and SeekingArrangement.com are only two

of his controversial sites. But let’s be fair here: Brandon Wade is not

responsible for the desires in the hearts or the thoughts in the minds of

those who use his websites. He recognized something in people that

was there long before he showed up on the scene; he just decided to

capitalize on it. (Brandon himself is married, even though he writes an

advice column for seekers on his websites.)

There are many out there in “SeekingSomeoneLand” who always

felt attracted to wealth in particular (both men and women) and those

who seem to prefer avoiding the commitment of marriage, Brandon

Wade websites or not. So while traditionalists may find his websites

more than controversial, remember that this is still a free country (for

the most part) and no one who finds money and youth and beauty and

sexiness too superficial for use in finding their choice of a partner, for

whatever purpose, can simply not check his websites out.

Brandon’s mother once suggested to him, when he was much

younger and still feeling nerdy and very alone, that if he made money

and was kind and generous, the women would come. Well, apparently

his mother was right. Having money and being generous with it is a

big attraction for many people.

So whether any woman reading this is looking for a wealthy man

to whom she can offer all her youth and beauty and sexiness (in a

mutually beneficial arrangement of some kind), or some beautiful man

feels he can offer all he has to some very wealthy woman, maybe

they’ll both find just what they’re looking for on one of Brandon’s

sites. On the other hand, as Brandon well knows, there may always be

people who will continue to believe in the fairy tale-like fantasy of

finding true love — perhaps even right under their nose — if they can

only recognize it. Maybe those people will get married, or maybe they’ll

choose an informal, ongoing loving relationship for the rest of their

days.

So whether one is looking for love (in all the wrong places?), or

looking for something else (on one of Brandon’s websites?), maybe

the end of their particular story will one day read:

“And they lived happily ever after.”

Maramis Choufani is the Managing Editor of the Las Vegas Tri-

bune. She writes a weekly column in this newspaper. To contact

Maramis, email her at [email protected].

Maramis(Continued from Page 7)

(See Jahn, Page 10)

mance of their duties. Source: Sec.

74-2

Maryland — In Baltimore, it is

illegal to take a lion to the movies.

(What about to a play?)

Minnesota — Many munici-

palities in Minnesota (including

Anoka County) still have a Va-

grancy Law on the books that

makes it a misdemeanor for a per-

son, with ability to work, who is

without lawful means of support,

and does not seek employment, and

is not under 18 years of age. (Be-

ware, college students!)

Mississippi — A state law pro-

hibits the seduction of a female over

the age of eighteen by promised or

pretended marriage. Source: ? 97-

29-55. Codes, 1892, ? 1298;

Nebraska — It is not legal for a

tavern owner to serve beer unless a

nice kettle of soup is also brewing.

Nevada — In Reno, It is unlaw-

ful for any person to carry on, con-

duct or maintain any marathon

dancing or marathon walking.

Source: Code 1966, ? 11.12.130

New Jersey — In Bergen

County, Blue Laws are still in ef-

fect. The only retail outlets permit-

ted to be open on Sundays are gro-

cery stores and liquor stores.

New York — It is against the

law to throw a ball at someone’s

head for fun. (How about if you are

just angry?) A license must be pur-

chased before hanging clothes on a

clothesline. A fine of $25 can be

levied for flirting. This old law spe-

cifically prohibits men from turn-

ing around on any city street and

looking “at a woman in that way.”

A second conviction for a crime of

this magnitude calls for the violat-

ing male to be forced to wear a “pair

of horse-blinders” wherever and

whenever he goes outside for a

stroll. (WILBURRRRRRRRRR.)

In Carmel, a man cannot be seen in

public while wearing a jacket and

pants that do not match (beware of

the fashion police!). In Greene, dur-

ing a concert, it is illegal to eat pea-

nuts and walk backwards on the

sidewalks. In Ocean City, It is ille-

Mace(Continued from Page 8) gal to eat in the street in residential

neighborhoods, and the only bev-

erage you can drink on the beach is

water in a clear plastic bottle. In

Ocean City, It is illegal for men to

go topless in the center of town. In

Staten Island, You may only water

your lawn if the hose is held in your

hand. In Staten Island, it is illegal

for a father to call his son a “fag-

got” or “queer” in an effort to curb

“girlie behavior.” (Hated it!)

New York City — You may not

smoke within 100 feet of the en-

trance to a public building. Women

may go topless in public, provid-

ing it is not being used as a busi-

ness. It is illegal to have permit

dancing in an establishment that

sells food without a cabaret license.

It is illegal for a woman to be on

the street wearing “body hugging

clothing.” Citizens may not greet

each other by “putting one’s thumb

to the nose and wiggling the fin-

gers.”

North Carolina — It is illegal

to hold more than two sessions of

bingo per week, and those sessions

may not exceed 5 hours each ses-

sion. Source: ? 14-309.8.

Ohio — In Oxford, It is unlaw-

ful for a woman to appear in public

while unshaven. This includes legs

and face. In Youngstown, you may

not run out of gas. Source: Young-

stown City Ordinances, Section

331.44 I hope no foreign women

visit!

Oklahoma — It is iIlegal to

have a sleeping (if he’s awake, it is

OK!) donkey In your bathtub after

7 p.m.

South Carolina — There’s no

place for fun... It is unlawful for a

minor under the age of eighteen to

play a pinball machine. Source: 20-

7-8915

Tennessee — It is unlawful for

any person to import, possess, or

cause to be imported into this state

any type of live skunk, or to sell,

barter, exchange or otherwise trans-

fer any live skunk, except that the

prohibitions of this section shall not

apply to bona fide zoological parks

and research institutions. Source:

70-4-208. Unlawful importation of

skunks — Penalty. You must be-

lieve in God to be elected into of-

fice. You also are not permitted into

office if you were in contendant in

a duel. Source: Tennessee Consti-

tution — Article IX

Vermont — In Montpelier, no

law was violated when 42 cyclists

rode through Vermont’s capital na-

ked on May 14, 2009. The Barre-

Montpelier Times Argus reported

that Vermont has no ban on public

nudity. Disrobing in public is a

crime, but the cyclists disrobed be-

fore venturing out and would not

be charged. Source: http://

www.wptz.com/news/19749434/

detail.html

West Virginia — If any person

who has arrived at the age of dis-

cretion (What age is that? Some

people never get there!) profanely

curses or swears or gets drunk in

public, he shall be fined by a jus-

tice one dollar for each offense.

Source: ?61-8-15. Profane swearing

and drunkenness; penalty. It is ille-

gal to taunt someone for not accept-

ing a challenge for a duel. Actual:

If any person posts another, or in

writing or in print uses any re-

proachful or contemptuous lan-

guage to or concerning another, for

not fighting a duel, or for not send-

ing or accepting a challenge, he

shall be guilty of a misdemeanor,

and, upon conviction, shall be con-

fined in jail not more than six

months, or fined not exceeding one

hundred dollars. Source: ?61-2-24.

Taunting for nonparticipation in

duel; penalty. State code deems it

unlawful for any person to have in

his possession or to display any red

or black flag. Source: West Virginia

Code 61-1-6

Wacky, but still the law of the

land. — Mace

* * * * *

Mace J. Yampolsky is a Board

Certified Criminal Law Specialist,

625 South Sixth St., Las Vegas, NV

89101; He can be reached at:

Phone 702-385-9777 or fax 702-

385-300. His website is located at:

www.macelaw.com.


or the Gillespie clique. Employeesare entitled to have their own per-ceptions about what they experi-ence and when you hear the com-ment ‘He can do no wrong,’ or (atMetro) ‘He was in SWAT,’ thismeans that the individual is per-ceived to be part of the IN-group.When these perceptions are notmonitored (or even discussed be-cause of fear and intimidation), itcan lead to decreased morale andbe an extremely negative factor inthe organization. Just ask the nextcop you see if he feels his (or her)future is bright because they are onthe right ‘team.’ I may exaggeratewhen I use the term ‘cosa nostra,’but I think things have gone waytoo far in the LVMPD. I can justabout hear them say, “It is ‘ourthing’and don’t you dare mess withus!”

So... should Joseph Lombardo orTed Moody (the two highest-rank-ing members of Metro) compete for

Jahn(Continued from Page 9)

“A COMMITMENT TOBUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES”

DOES YOUR COMPANY WANT OPPORTUNITIES TO BID ON

NEVADA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (NDOT),

CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS OR SUBMIT PROPOSALS TO

PROVIDE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES?

Contact the Valley Center Opportunity Zone (VCOZ)

Peter Guzman, Executive Director

300 N. 13th Street

Las Vegas, Nevada 89101

702/384-8269 –phone

702/384-1182VCOZ has entered into a consultant agreement with NDOT to provide estimating,

bidding, and submittal assistance to Disadvantaged Business Enterprises

Well, here’s your opportunity!

the sheriff’s office? If one of thesetwo is elected, will they represent‘change’ and improvement for thefuture, or keep the status quo andjust switch office chairs?

This is all about POWER. Poweris the ability to do or act, the capa-bility of doing or accomplishingsomething, political or nationalstrength, might, the possession of

control or command over others,

authority; ascendancy: power over

men’s minds. I’m most worriedabout the last sentence. Do we re-ally need ‘authority and ascen-dancy’ and is this election going tobe about ascendancy — merelymoving pieces on the game board?

Do we need a ‘protégé’ of a priorsheriff, or will we get stuck with oneof his ‘progeny’? A PROTÉGÉ isdefined as a person under the pa-tronage, protection, or care of some-one interested in his or her careeror welfare. I don’t like a few wordsin that definition either (patronageor protection). The definition of

PROGENY means a descendant oroffspring, as a child, plant, or ani-mal... something that originates orresults from something else. I don’tthink I want to see a protégé or aprogeny as the next sheriff of ClarkCounty Nevada.

I saw the development of thecurrent leadership at the SaharaSaloon years ago. During my rookiedays in field training, we wouldvisit that business after work be-cause it was so close to the policestation. We would sit around andtalk, drink, and we would actuallyshare stories about what we werefacing in our quest to become per-manent LVMPD officers. The rook-ies were required to be at a sepa-rate table from the Field TrainingOfficers or Supervisors. We mighthave been better off going to ourown place for ‘choir practice’ be-cause maintaining our indepen-dence should have been a priority.We should have ‘made it’ or‘dropped out’ based on our perfor-

mance — not friendships.I look back at the names and

faces from the Sahara Saloon andrealize that many of them wouldlater become Sheriff, AssistantSheriff, and Deputy Chief. Theyheld the highest positions in theLVMPD before they retired andsome of them are not yet retired.

Do we need to find a way to geta true professional with new ideasand the credibility of a proven ca-reer in law enforcement leadership,or will we settle for a protégé (orworse yet, the progeny) of the cur-rent system?

I want to hear about educationalachievement, recency of training,education, and experience — ex-

amples of successful leadership thatcan be validated.

Does Nevada have a qualified(POST Certified and resident ofClark County) person in the LasVegas Valley or even in the entirestate that can step up and try to saveMetro from the failing public trust?

* * * * *

Norm Jahn is a former LVMPD

lieutenant, who has also served as

a police chief in Shawano, Wiscon-

sin, and has nearly 25 years of po-

lice experience. Jahn now contrib-

utes his opinions and ideas to help

improve policing in general, and in

Las Vegas in particular, through his

weekly column in the Las Vegas

Tribune.

What was behind Venezuela’sdeadly oil refinery explosion?

By Andrew Rosati


CARACAS, VENEZUELA —Authorities say foul play was in-volved in the deadly gas explosionthat tore through Venezuela’s larg-est oil refinery last year. The blastclaimed at least 40 lives, displacedhundreds of families and caused anestimated $1.7 billion in damages.

“I have the conviction that it wasan act of sabotage by factors exter-nal to our refinery, our industry,”said Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A.(PDVSA) president and petroleumenergy minister, Rafael RamÌrez,upon releasing a 117-page report ofa state-sponsored investigation lastweek. The report indicates that in-tentionally-loosened bolts in a gaspump caused a leak that led to theensuing blast.

Prior to the probe’s release, op-position lawmakers decried thetragedy at the Amuay Refinery as“completely avoidable,” citing arecent report by Profesionales del

Petróleo, an oil industry group.While the disaster is being

dragged further into Venezuela’sbitter political strife, industry ob-servers say the Aug. 25, 2012 ex-plosion is more likely a symptomof the overall deterioration atPDVSA. Despite increased invest-ment and a burgeoning staff, thefrequency of accidents and relianceon refined oil products is stokingfear of mismanagement in this oilrich South American nation.

“Safety is ... part of running abusiness in this inherently high riskindustry “ says Jorge Piñon, energyanalyst and LatinAmerican special-ist at the University of Texas atAustin. “PDVSA has lost sight ofthat.”

Most dangerous

According to company data, thestate owned oil company PDVSAregistered 519 accidents, causing3,400 employee injuries and 24deaths last year. In a recent reportcomparing PDVSA to its regionalstate-owned counterparts —Mexico’s Pemex, Colombia’sEcopetrol, and Brazil’s Petrobras —The InternationalAssociation of Oil

Large plumes of smoke rise from the Amuay refinery as national guards soldiers watch near Punto Fijo, Venezuela, Aug. 25, 2012. A huge

explosion rocked Venezuela’s biggest oil refinery, killing and injuring dozens.

One year after Venezuela’s Amuay Refinery explosion the governmentpoints to foul play, while critics say state-run oil company is deteriorating.

and Gas Producers, a global forum,found PDVSA the most dangerous.

Pointing to the continued occur-rence of fires, spills, and equipmentfailures, José Bodas, general secre-tary of Venezuela’s Federation ofOil Workers Union, says “each ac-cident has its own origin. The over-all commonality we’re seeing is thelack of maintenance [and] invest-ment, and the incompletion of se-curity regulations.”

Despite calls for increased safetyand new funding initiatives, “thingsremain the same,” says Mr. Bodas.“We still haven’t seen the politicalwill,” to change, he says.

Given the rash of accidents atPDVSA facilities, critics remainskeptical of claims of subversion.“We’ve heard sabotage before,”says Eddie Ramírez national coor-dinator of Gente de Petróleo, a civicassociation. “One has to ask is sabo-

tage also the cause of falling pro-duction?”

Lifeblood of the economy

Oil remains the lifeblood of theVenezuelan economy, accountingfor 95 percent of its exports andabout 20 percent of its gross domes-tic product. PDVSA has been striv-ing to boost its output to 6 millionbarrels a day since 2005, and as of2007 it had allocated $78 billion toreached the target by 2012.

Staff levels have also swelled.Mr. Ramírez of Gente de Petróleohighlights company data showingstaff growth from about 69,000workers in 2001, to nearly doublethe staff today, with over 145,000employees.

But even with the injection ofbillions of dollars and the additionof thousands of employees, the stateenergy monopoly’s production hascontinued to sputter in recent years.

According to official OPEC data,the flow of Venezuelan crude hasslowed to 2.8 million barrels a dayin 2012 from a high of from 3.1million barrels a day in 1998.

“The only thing they’ve man-aged to achieve is verifying that wedo indeed have the world’s largestproven oil reserves,” says RonaldBalza, an economics professor atboth the Central University of Ven-ezuela and Andrés Bello CatholicUniversity.As of last year, companydata indicates that PDVSA hasspent more than $74 billion towardits state goal, and has only certifiedthat the country possesses oil re-serves of 297 billion barrels.

“We still lack the technology toget it out of the ground,” says Mr.Balza.

The company has since an-nounced an additional $266 billionto reach previous set production

goals by 2019.“One wonders where the money

is going,” says Balza.Besides its energy endeavors,

PDVSA also sponsors various gov-ernment social programs and par-ticipates in food production andcultural initiatives. Ramírez stressesthe need for social responsibility inthe oil industry, but he fears suchprograms, “distort the primary ob-jective of the company, which is theproduction of energy.”

Critics are quick to highlight thatVenezuela is now importing fromthe U.S., with whom it maintainsstrained relations. According to theU.S. Energy Information Adminis-tration, Venezuela imported some3.3 million barrels of oil productsfrom the U.S., including gasolinein June.

“The clock is ticking forPDVSA,” says Piñon.


Las Vegas Tribune staff writer

A local non-club club is reaping

the benefits of its new member-

ship... non-membership member-

ship, that is.

Confused? Well, it all began nine

Adding the bloom to the flower

years ago when entertainer Nelson

Sardelli and a few friends decided

it was time for a non-club club. A

club with no agenda, no purpose,

no affiliations of any kind; just a

group of Fun Italians Organizing

Ridiculous Events. From this,

F.I.O.R.E. was born.

Like any organization, this non-

organization has strict rules. All

members must be Italian or Non-

Italian. The non-club club takes this

rule very seriously and will not

waiver. It is suggested that all non-

member members have low expec-

tations and a great attitude and

sense of humor. Also, every man

who joins is immediately a presi-

dent and, until very recently, that

would have been a quick encapsu-

lation of their non-member mem-

bership.

While The Non-Club Club

F.I.O.R.E. presidents have been

meeting once a week for the past

nine years, women were not in-

cluded, except on special occasions,

such as various holiday parties —

including, but not limited to, St. IRS

Day.

Enter the Bloom

Recently, First Ladies have be-

come welcome and active non-

member members of this unique

non-club club.

So from its humble beginnings,

with non-meeting meetings, in vari-

ous private event spaces around

town, the Non-Club Club F.I.O.R.E.

has grown to an impressive group

of locals who now meet monthly at

The Italian American Club (which

is an actual club, not to be confused

with the non-club club).

To be a part of this non-club club

you need to be invited by a current

non-member member... and you

might want to find one you know

as F.I.O.R.E is gearing up for their

next big event — their Annual Hal-

loween Party, Saturday, October 25.

For more information about this

ridiculously fun non-group group,

please visit, http://

nonclubclubfiore.com and be sure

to check the “About us” page.

The beautification of the F.I.O.R.E.

From This....From This....

To This....


SEND YOUR ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTIONS TO:

EarthTalk, c/o E – The Environmental Magazine, P.O. Box

5098, Westport, CT 06881; [email protected]. E is a

nonprofit publication. Subscribe: www.emagazine.com/sub-

scribe; Request a Free Trial Issue: www.emagazine.com/trial.

Dear EarthTalk: What is the

new documentary film A Fierce

Green Fire about and what does

the title refer to? — Gloria

Howard, Washington, DC

A Fierce Green Fire is a new film

documenting the rise of the mod-

ern environmental movement from

the 1960s through the present day.

It premiered at last year’s Sundance

Film Festival and will be playing

at select theaters across the coun-

try beginning in September 2013.

Educators, environmental groups

and grassroots activists also will be

showing the film at small and large

events from coast to coast over the

course of the fall. Written and di-

rected by Mark Kitchell, Academy

Award-nominated director of Ber-

keley in the Sixties,A Fierce Green

Fire (the film) is based on the 1993

book of the same name by environ-

mental journalist Philip Shabecoff.

The phrase “a fierce green fire”

refers to a longer passage in one of

the seminal environmental books of

the 20th century, 1949’s A Sand

County Almanac. In the famous

“Think Like a Mountain” section of

that book, author Aldo Leopold re-

lates his experience as part of a

predator extirpation team that

shoots a wolf in the New Mexico

desert: “We reached the old wolf in

time to watch a fierce green fire

dying in her eyes.

I realized then and have known

ever since that there was something

new to me in those eyes, something

known only to her and to the moun-

tain. I was young then and full of

trigger-itch; I thought that because

fewer wolves meant more deer, that

no wolves would mean hunters’

paradise. But after seeing the green

fire die, I sensed that neither the

wolf nor the mountain agreed with

such a view.”

Kitchell’s film shows how this

passage and other writings were in-

strumental in raising awareness

about the importance of wise stew-

ardship of the natural environment

and as such played a crucial role in

the re-birth of the environmental

movement in the 1960s.

Featuring five “acts,” each with

its own central story and character,

the film depicts a central environ-

mental conflict of each decade since

the 1960s. The first act, narrated by

Robert Redford, focuses on David

Brower and the Sierra Club’s battle

to halt dams in the Grand Canyon

in the 1960s. Act two, narrated by

Ashley Judd, tells the story of Lois

Gibbs and other Niagara Falls, New

York residents’ struggle against

pollution buried beneath their Love

Canal neighborhood in the 1970s.

Act three is all about Greenpeace

and efforts by Captain Paul Watson

to save whales and baby harp seals,

as told by Van Jones. Chico Mendes

and Brazilian rubber tappers take

center stage in Act four, as narrated

by Isabel Allende, in their fight to

save their Amazon rainforest.

Lastly, Act five focuses on Bill

McKibben, as told by Meryl Streep,

and the 25-year effort to address the

foremost issue of our time: climate

change.

Intertwined within these main

stories are strands including the

struggle for environmental justice,

getting “back to the land,” and

sustainability efforts in the devel-

oping world. The film ends on an

optimistic note, driving home the

point that environmentalism is re-

ally about civilizational change and

bringing industrial society into bal-

ance with nature and that each of

us can make a difference with a

little effort.

Those interested in seeing the

film should check out the schedule

of theatrical releases at the film’s

website, afiercegreenfire.com. The

website also features more informa-

tion on the film and features his-

torical photos of some of the scenes

and events depicted in it. Anyone

who wants to find out more about

the makings of the modern environ-

mental movement should be sure to

see A Fierce Green Fire.

* * * * *

Dear EarthTalk: Is it true that

American kids are going through

puberty earlier today than in pre-

vious generations, and are there

any environmental causes for this?

— Paul Chase, Troy, NY

Research indicates that indeed

Americans girls and boys are go-

ing through puberty earlier than

ever, though the reasons are unclear.

Many believe our widespread ex-

posure to synthetic chemicals is at

least partly to blame, but it’s hard

to pinpoint exactly why our bodies

react in certain ways to various en-

vironmental stimuli.

Researchers first noticed the ear-

lier onset of puberty in the late

1990s, and recent studies confirm

the mysterious public health trend.

A 2012 analysis by the U.S. Cen-

ters for Disease Control and Pre-

vention (CDC) found that Ameri-

can girls exposed to high levels of

common household chemicals had

their first periods seven months ear-

lier than those with lower expo-

sures. “This study adds to the grow-

ing body of scientific research that

exposure to environmental chemi-

cals may be associated with early

puberty,” says Danielle Buttke, a

researcher at CDC and lead author

on the study. Buttke found that the

age when a girl has her first period

(menarche) has fallen over the past

century from an average of age 16-

17 to age 12-13.

Earlier puberty isn’t just for

girls. In 2012 researchers from the

American Academy of Pediatrics

(AAP) surveyed data on 4,100 boys

from 144 pediatric practices in 41

states and found a similar trend:

American boys are reaching pu-

berty six months to two years ear-

lier than just a few decades ago.

African-American boys are starting

the earliest, at around age nine,

while Caucasian and Hispanics

start on average at age 10.

One culprit could be rising obe-

sity rates. Researchers believe that

puberty (at least for girls) may be

triggered in part by the body build-

ing up sufficient reserves of fat tis-

sue, signaling fitness for reproduc-

tive capabilities. Clinical pediatri-

cian Robert Lustig of Benioff

Children’s Hospital in San Fran-

cisco reports that obese girls have

higher levels of the hormone leptin

which in and of itself can lead to

early puberty while setting off a

domino effect of more weight gain

and faster overall physical matura-

tion.

Some evidence suggests that

“hormone disrupting” chemicals

may also trigger changes prema-

turely. Public health advocates have

been concerned, for example, about

the omnipresence of Bisphenol A

(BPA), a synthetic chemical in

some plastics, because it is thought

to “mimic” estrogen in the body and

in some cases contribute to or cause

health problems. BPA is being

phased out of many consumer

items, but hundreds of other poten-

tially hormone disrupting chemi-

cals are still in widespread use.

Dichlorobenzene, used in some

mothballs and in solid blocks of

toilet bowl and air deodorizers, is

also a key suspect in triggering

early puberty. It is already classi-

fied as a possible human carcino-

gen, and studies have linked pre-

natal exposure to it with low birth

weight in boys. The U.S. Environ-

mental Protection Agency (EPA)

has recently made screening

Dichlorobenzene for hormonal ef-

fects a priority.

Parents can take steps to reduce

our kids’ so-called “toxic burden”:

Buy organic produce, hormone-

and antibiotic-free meat and dairy

and all-natural household cleaners.

And keep the dialogue going about

healthy food and lifestyle habits so

kids learn how to make responsible,

healthy choices for themselves.

A new film by Academy Award-nominated Mark Kitchell, based on a 1993 book by Phil Shabecoff, documents

the rise of the modern environmental movement from the 1960s through the present day. Pictured: Lois

Marie Gibbs and other Niagara Falls, New York residents’ struggle against pollution buried beneath their

Love Canal neighborhood in the 1970s.

American girls and boys are going through puberty earlier than ever, though the reasons are unclear. Many

believe our widespread exposure to synthetic chemicals is at least partly to blame.

Home Shopping Network ProducedEarth, Wind and Fire’s Concert

By Sandy Zimmerman

Las Vegas Tribune

Photos by Sandy Zimmerman

unless otherwise indicated

The legendary Earth, Wind and

Fire appeared in the Venetian The-

ater at the Venetian Resort Las Ve-

gas. This concert was different from

their others because it was produced

by the leading multichannel retailer

Home Shopping Network Live

events.

The HSN took a new direction

as partners with the Venetian as an

active participant in the event.

Verdine White, Philip Bailey and

Ralph Johnson, founding members

of Earth, Wind and Fire were cel-

ebrating their new release titled

Now, Then & Forever, marking the

first album in almost a decade. This

CD as well as Venetian resort pack-

ages were sold during the television

show’s commercial breaks.

The first hour was broadcast live

on HSN TV for both the television

audience as well as the show’s au-

dience. Following the show, the au-

dience was rewarded with an addi-

tional half-hour which also

streamed live across HSN’s digital

platforms. The Songza Music

streaming service offered a special

Earth, Wind & Fire/ HSN playlist

for subscribers during the week

preceeding the show.

These events are an exciting way

to promote an artist’s latest CD’s

while providing the artist’s fans

with a live television broadcast and

a concert.

ENTERTAINMENT

EARTH, WIND & FIRE: Verdine White, Philip Bailey and Ralph Johnson

These live concert tapings began

with the debut of Michael Bolton’s

Ain’t No Mountain High Enough:

A Tribute to Hitsville U.S.A.

The series of HSN Live concerts

has provided some of the most spec-

tacular shows with Lionel Richie,

Rod Stewart, Tony Bennett, Josh

Groban and others.

Before the show, the red carpet

featured many of Home Shopping

Network’s celebrities and : Special

guest David Foster (singer,

songwriter and producer), Yolanda

Hadid Foster (The Real House-

wives of Beverly Hills-BRAVO),

special guest Andy Sheldon (Chief

Creative Officer, HSNi & General

Manager of HSN Productions),

HSN Hosts Brett Chukerman and

Callie Northagen, Barry Summers

(President-Rock Fuel Media), Heidi

Daus (Jewelry Designer), and

Damien Smith (Manager of Earth,

Wind & Fire), Marc Bujnicki

(HSN, Director Live Events).

Charles Bennett (CEO of

Zymol) made a special presentation

of the LifetimeAchievementAward

to Wind, Earth and Fire’s Verdine

White. Jay Dran Lewis (Founder

and CEO of Warrior Instruments.)

built a custom-made instrument as

a gift for Verdine.

The Venetian Resort presents a

line-up of entertainment. Resident

production shows Rock ofAges and

Smokey Robinson’s Human Na-

ture, Soul to Soul and more.


Special Guest David Foster (Songwriter, Singer & Producer) and his

wife Yolanda Hadid (Real Housewives of Beverly Hills on BRAVO)

Home Shopping Network Hosts: Brett Chukerman & Callie Northagen

Sandy Zimmerman interviewed

celebrities along the red carpet.

(Photo by Holly Sewall)

Jay Dran Lewis (Left), Founder & CEO of Warrior Instruments, and Charles Bennett (Right), CEO of

Zymot, presented the Lifetime Achievement Award and a custom made guitar to Verdine White (Center)

The Venetian Resort & Casino

is located at 3355 South Las Vegas

Boulevard. For information, call

(702)-414-1000 or visit http://

www.venetian.com/

The HOME SHOPPING NET-

WORK is a leading interactive mul-

tichannel retailer, offering a curated

assortment of exclusive products

and top brand names to its custom-

ers. HSN incorporates entertain-

ment, inspiration, personalities and

industry experts to provide an en-

tirely unique shopping experience.

At HSN, customers find selections

in Health & Beauty, Jewelry, Home/

Lifestyle, Fashion/Accessories, and

Electronics. HSN broadcasts live to

95 million households in the US in

HD 24/7 and its website —

HSN.com - is a top 10 most traf-

ficked e-commerce site, featuring

more than 23,000 product videos.

HSN, founded 35 years ago as the

first shopping network, is an oper-

ating segment of HSN, Inc.

For information about the Home

Shopping Network, call (800) 284-

5757 or visit http://www.hsn.com.

* * * * *

SUGGESTIONS: Do you have a

favorite comedian, singer, produc-

tion show, magician, group, or en-

tertainer appearing in Las Vegas?

Just let us know about your favor-

ite and you may win free show tick-

ets or other prizes. Send the name

of your favorite, reasons for your

choice, name, e-mail address, and

telephone number to: P. O. Box

#750211, Las Vegas, NV. 89136.

For information or any questions,

please call Sandy Zimmerman at

731-6491 or email her at

[email protected].

By Mike Kermani

Las Vegas Tribune

Judith Hill is opening for Josh

Groban at MGM Grand Garden

Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday,

October 13.

Judith’s musical journey has

brought her to a part in the critically

acclaimed film 20 Feet From Star-

dom (“You gasp at the ecstatic con-

vergence of lung power and spirit.”

— New York Magazine), which

came out on June 14 and tells the

true story of the backup singers be-

hind some of the greatest musicians

of the 21st century. She is now re-

cording her debut solo release due

out later this year...

You might know the former

Michael Jackson backup singer

from her powerhouse performances

on NBC’s The Voice, which had

everyone from The Wall Street

Journal and Rolling Stone to the

Los Angeles Times and thousands

of fans rooting for her:

“[Judith Hill] has pipes, experi-

ence, style...” — The Wall Street

Journal

“Seasoned, soulful sound.” —

Rolling Stone

You can hear Judith belt it on

Christina Aguilera’s “What a Girl

Wants” here: https://

w w w . y o u t u b e . c o m /

watch?v=VMOCtUP9_Vc

* * * * *

CASINO ENTERTAINMENT

AWARDS AT G2E

IN PLAZA HOTEL

The Casino Entertainment

Awards at G2E will be presented

Wednesday, Sep. 25, 2013, at 7:00

p.m. in the historic showroom at the

Plaza Hotel & Casino, 1 Main

Street, Downtown Las Vegas. A

celebrity red carpet reception at

6:00 p.m. in Zbar will precede the

awards show.

Hosted by Emmy award-win-

ning comedian LouieAnderson, the

Casino Entertainment Awards at

G2E is the only awards program

that honors outstanding entertain-

ers, executives and venues in the

casino entertainment industry.


Awards at G2E are an official event

of the Global Gaming Expo, the

world’s largest annual gathering of

casino entertainment professionals,

which is expected to attract 25,000

attendees to the Sands Expo and

Convention Center on Sep. 23-26,

2013.

Award nominees include:

Showroom/Theater of the Year:

The Show atAgua Caliente Casino;

Vinyl at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino

Las Vegas; and The Wolf Den at

Mohegan Sun.

Arena/Amphitheater of theYear:

Mohegan Sun Arena; MGM Grand

Garden Arena; and Thunder Valley

Casino Resort Amphitheater.

Entertainment Executive of the

Year: Tom Cantone, Mohegan Sun;

Robyn Smith, Hard Rock Hotel &

Casino Biloxi; and David Swift,

Pala Resort & Casino.

Independent Talent Buyer of the

Year: Brian Knaff, Talent Buyers

Network; Candace Mandracia, Live

Nation; and Michael Scafuto, The

M&M Group.

Booking Agent of the Year: Jeff

Howard, APA Talent & Literary

Agency; Steve Levine, ICM Part-

ners; and Craig Newman, APATal-

ent & Literary Agency.

Comedian of the Year: Rita

Rudner, George Wallace and Ron

White.

Musical Artist of the Year: For-

eigner, The Oak Ridge Boys and

Rick Springfield.

Entertainer of the Year: Ronnie

Dun; Lynyrd Skynyrd and Motley

Crue.

Currently appearing at The Plaza

Hotel & Casino at 7:00 p.m.

Wednesdays through Saturdays,

awards host Louie Anderson made

his national television debut on The

Tonight Show Starring Johnny

Carson and the rest is history.

The Tonight Show with Jay

Leno, The Late Show with David

Letterman, The Late Late Show

with Craig Ferguson, Comic Relief,

as well as Showtime and HBO spe-

cials have all elevated Anderson to

a household name.

Anderson has guest-starred in

numerous sitcoms, television dra-

mas and feature film roles in Com-

ing to America opposite Eddie

Murphy, the classic Ferris Bueller’s

Day Off and most recently co-

starred on the ABC prime time re-

ality show Splash.

Tickets for the public are avail-

able for purchase at the Plaza Box

Office adjacent to the front desk or

call 702-386-2507. More informa-

tion on G2E, the Global Gaming

Expo is available at http://

www.globalgamingexpo.com/.

* * * * *

LAS VEGAS PERFORMERS

COME TOGETHER

Rudy Foundation is proud to

announce its new fundraising pro-

gram for the arts, MUSICAL FU-

SION FUNDRAISERS (MFF).

MFF presents its first story-tell-

ing showcase, “Life Is a Cabaret: A

Story about Relationships,” featur-

ing local directors, educators and

performers from Las Vegas’ most

celebrated productions.

MFF adds a twist to the tradi-

tional cabaret by bringing different

styles of music together into one

production to tell a story.

Each MFF cabaret will tell a

unique story and inspire audiences

with a new message. “Life Is a

Cabaret” will focus primarily on

Judith Hill opening for Josh Groban at MGM Grand

This Weekin Las Vegas

By Mike Kermani

Broadway show tunes from Jekyll

& Hyde, Aida, Once, Next To Nor-

mal, Wicked, The Secret Garden,

while also incorporating pop mu-

sic to help tell a story about the joys

and woes of relationships.

Michael Vojvodich — Director

and Instructor of Broadway Bound,

the musical theater program at Stu-

dio One’s Summerlin Dance Acad-

emy that focuses on teaching chil-

dren music, choreography, and per-

formance technique from Broad-

way shows.

Michael’s extensive resume of

leading roles includes Jesus Christ

Superstar, Jekyll and Hyde, Little

Shop of Horrors, A Little Night

Music, West Side Story, and Grease.

Alex Cheney — Entertainment

Manager for Caesars Entertainment

and Vocal Director for Broadway

Bound, Alex is a former dancer in

Bally’s Jubilee! And has performed

for Busch Gardens inWilliamsburg,

Opryland Productions, and Louise

Mandrell.

He also spent almost six years

at sea as a singer/dancer and pro-

duction manager for Stiletto Enter-

tainment and Holland America

Line. On stage, he’s portrayed lead-

ing roles in She Loves Me, The

Magic Flute, and Sound of Music.

Amanda Hope Terrill — Tal-

ent Coordinator for Caesars Enter-

tainment and singer for St. Thomas

Moore Catholic Community,

Amanda’s involvement in local the-

atre throughout the past decade in-

cludes working for PS Productions,

Huntsman Entertainment, Broad-

way Bound, and Las Vegas Little

Theatre, and performing for Signa-

ture Productions’ All Shook Up,

Little Shop of Horrors, and Sound

of Music.

Melissa Riezler — Locally

known for her role as former ‘Anna’

of Signature Productions’ 2009 pro-

duction of The King and I,

Melissa’s extensive resume in-

cludes over six years of perform-

ing for Walt Disney World with

Disney Productions and leading

roles in Las Vegas shows including

Annie,Sound of Music, and Oliver!

Julian Lam — Winner of the J.

Huntzinger Concerto Competition

in 2004 and 2005, Julian Lam has

developed an impressive musical

skill set over his 15 years of work-

ing as an accompanist and piano

teacher.

After being instructed by Dr.

Mykola Suk, professor of Univer-

sity Nevada, Las Vegas and Dr.

James Giles, professor of North-

western University, he earned both

a Bachelor and Master of Music

degree in piano performance from

UNLV.

Karen Langford — Technical

Director of Broadway Bound,

Karen’s experience ranges from

lead vocalist for a Top 40s cover

band to a committed involvement

in technical stage work for Signa-

ture Productions and P.S. Produc-

tions.

Saturday, September 21 at 7:30

p.m and Sunday, September 22 at 2

p.m.

Tickets are $20 per person and

available for purchase online at

www.showtix4u.com. The event is

at the Summerlin Library and Per-

forming Arts Center, 1771 Inner

Circle Drive.

* * * * *

HALL OF FAME GROUP AT

EASTSIDE CANNERY

Celebrating their 50th anniver-

sary as a group, acclaimed R&B act

The Whispers appear at the Eastside

Events Center at Eastside Cannery

Casino & Hotel, 5255 Boulder

Highway, at 8:30 p.m. September

28, 2013.

The Whispers are members of

both the Vocal Group Hall of Fame

(inducted in 2003) and the

SoulMusic Hall of Fame at

Soulmusic.com (2012).

Classic songs “And The Beat

Goes On” and “Rock Steady”

reached the top of the R&B charts,

and The Whispers’ extensive cata-

log includes 13 hits that soared to

the top 10 on the R&B list.

The Whispers gained national

attention with their 70s albums,

“One For The Money,” “Open Up

Your Love,” and “Headlights,” and

scored their first platinum album in

1980 with the self-titled album

“The Whispers.”

The group consists of brothers

Walter and Wallace “Scotty” Scott,

as well as Nicholas Caldwell and

Leaveil Degree. All but Degree are

founding members of The Whispers

with a history spanning five de-

cades of success.

Tickets start at $14.95 and can

be purchased online at

www.eastsidecannery.com. For

more information, call the Eastside

Cannery box office at (702) 856-

5470.

* * * * *

Mike Kermani is an entertain-

ment writer for the Las Vegas Tri-

bune newspaper. He writes a weekly

column in this newspaper. To con-

tact Mike Kermani, email

mkermani@ lasvegas tribune.com

Corporate, private, cruises,

schools, hospitals, libraries,

festivals, birthdays,

holidays... many different

characters. Affordable.

Call “Vegas Best Party”

at 702-956-7333

Joyful PartiesGuaranteed!


Louie Anderson

The Whispers

By Mike Kermani

Las Vegas Tribune

Judith Hill is opening for Josh

Groban at MGM Grand Garden

Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday,

October 13.

Judith’s musical journey has

brought her to a part in the critically

acclaimed film 20 Feet From Star-

dom (“You gasp at the ecstatic con-

vergence of lung power and spirit.”

— New York Magazine), which

came out on June 14 and tells the

true story of the backup singers be-

hind some of the greatest musicians

of the 21st century. She is now re-

cording her debut solo release due

out later this year...

You might know the former

Michael Jackson backup singer

from her powerhouse performances

on NBC’s The Voice, which had

everyone from The Wall Street

Journal and Rolling Stone to the

Los Angeles Times and thousands

of fans rooting for her:

“[Judith Hill] has pipes, experi-

ence, style...” — The Wall Street

Journal

“Seasoned, soulful sound.” —

Rolling Stone

You can hear Judith belt it on

Christina Aguilera’s “What a Girl

Wants” here: https://

w w w . y o u t u b e . c o m /

watch?v=VMOCtUP9_Vc

* * * * *

CASINO ENTERTAINMENT

AWARDS AT G2E

IN PLAZA HOTEL


Awards at G2E will be presented

Wednesday, Sep. 25, 2013, at 7:00

p.m. in the historic showroom at the

Plaza Hotel & Casino, 1 Main

Street, Downtown Las Vegas. A

celebrity red carpet reception at

6:00 p.m. in Zbar will precede the

awards show.

Hosted by Emmy award-win-

ning comedian LouieAnderson, the

Casino Entertainment Awards at

G2E is the only awards program

that honors outstanding entertain-

ers, executives and venues in the

casino entertainment industry.


Awards at G2E are an official event

of the Global Gaming Expo, the

world’s largest annual gathering of

casino entertainment professionals,

which is expected to attract 25,000

attendees to the Sands Expo and

Convention Center on Sep. 23-26,

2013.

Award nominees include:

Showroom/Theater of the Year:

The Show atAgua Caliente Casino;

Vinyl at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino

Las Vegas; and The Wolf Den at

Mohegan Sun.

Arena/Amphitheater of theYear:

Mohegan Sun Arena; MGM Grand

Garden Arena; and Thunder Valley

Casino Resort Amphitheater.

Entertainment Executive of the

Year: Tom Cantone, Mohegan Sun;

Robyn Smith, Hard Rock Hotel &

Casino Biloxi; and David Swift,

Pala Resort & Casino.

Independent Talent Buyer of the

Year: Brian Knaff, Talent Buyers

Network; Candace Mandracia, Live

Nation; and Michael Scafuto, The

M&M Group.

Booking Agent of the Year: Jeff

Howard, APA Talent & Literary

Agency; Steve Levine, ICM Part-

ners; and Craig Newman, APATal-

ent & Literary Agency.

Comedian of the Year: Rita

Rudner, George Wallace and Ron

White.

Musical Artist of the Year: For-

eigner, The Oak Ridge Boys and

Rick Springfield.

Entertainer of the Year: Ronnie

Dun; Lynyrd Skynyrd and Motley

Crue.

Currently appearing at The Plaza

Hotel & Casino at 7:00 p.m.

Wednesdays through Saturdays,

awards host Louie Anderson made

his national television debut on The

Tonight Show Starring Johnny

Carson and the rest is history.

The Tonight Show with Jay

Leno, The Late Show with David

Letterman, The Late Late Show

with Craig Ferguson, Comic Relief,

as well as Showtime and HBO spe-

cials have all elevated Anderson to

a household name.

Anderson has guest-starred in

numerous sitcoms, television dra-

mas and feature film roles in Com-

ing to America opposite Eddie

Murphy, the classic Ferris Bueller’s

Day Off and most recently co-

starred on the ABC prime time re-

ality show Splash.

Tickets for the public are avail-

able for purchase at the Plaza Box

Office adjacent to the front desk or

call 702-386-2507. More informa-

tion on G2E, the Global Gaming

Expo is available at http://

www.globalgamingexpo.com/.

* * * * *

LAS VEGAS PERFORMERS

COME TOGETHER

Rudy Foundation is proud to

announce its new fundraising pro-

gram for the arts, MUSICAL FU-

SION FUNDRAISERS (MFF).

MFF presents its first story-tell-

ing showcase, “Life Is a Cabaret: A

Story about Relationships,” featur-

ing local directors, educators and

performers from Las Vegas’ most

celebrated productions.

MFF adds a twist to the tradi-

tional cabaret by bringing different

styles of music together into one

production to tell a story.

Each MFF cabaret will tell a

unique story and inspire audiences

with a new message. “Life Is a

Cabaret” will focus primarily on

Judith Hill opening for Josh Groban at MGM Grand

This Weekin Las Vegas

By Mike Kermani

Broadway show tunes from Jekyll

& Hyde, Aida, Once, Next To Nor-

mal, Wicked, The Secret Garden,

while also incorporating pop mu-

sic to help tell a story about the joys

and woes of relationships.

Michael Vojvodich — Director

and Instructor of Broadway Bound,

the musical theater program at Stu-

dio One’s Summerlin Dance Acad-

emy that focuses on teaching chil-

dren music, choreography, and per-

formance technique from Broad-

way shows.

Michael’s extensive resume of

leading roles includes Jesus Christ

Superstar, Jekyll and Hyde, Little

Shop of Horrors, A Little Night

Music, West Side Story, and Grease.

Alex Cheney — Entertainment

Manager for Caesars Entertainment

and Vocal Director for Broadway

Bound, Alex is a former dancer in

Bally’s Jubilee! And has performed

for Busch Gardens inWilliamsburg,

Opryland Productions, and Louise

Mandrell.

He also spent almost six years

at sea as a singer/dancer and pro-

duction manager for Stiletto Enter-

tainment and Holland America

Line. On stage, he’s portrayed lead-

ing roles in She Loves Me, The

Magic Flute, and Sound of Music.

Amanda Hope Terrill — Tal-

ent Coordinator for Caesars Enter-

tainment and singer for St. Thomas

Moore Catholic Community,

Amanda’s involvement in local the-

atre throughout the past decade in-

cludes working for PS Productions,

Huntsman Entertainment, Broad-

way Bound, and Las Vegas Little

Theatre, and performing for Signa-

ture Productions’ All Shook Up,

Little Shop of Horrors, and Sound

of Music.

Melissa Riezler — Locally

known for her role as former ‘Anna’

of Signature Productions’ 2009 pro-

duction of The King and I,

Melissa’s extensive resume in-

cludes over six years of perform-

ing for Walt Disney World with

Disney Productions and leading

roles in Las Vegas shows including

Annie,Sound of Music, and Oliver!

Julian Lam — Winner of the J.

Huntzinger Concerto Competition

in 2004 and 2005, Julian Lam has

developed an impressive musical

skill set over his 15 years of work-

ing as an accompanist and piano

teacher.

After being instructed by Dr.

Mykola Suk, professor of Univer-

sity Nevada, Las Vegas and Dr.

James Giles, professor of North-

western University, he earned both

a Bachelor and Master of Music

degree in piano performance from

UNLV.

Karen Langford — Technical

Director of Broadway Bound,

Karen’s experience ranges from

lead vocalist for a Top 40s cover

band to a committed involvement

in technical stage work for Signa-

ture Productions and P.S. Produc-

tions.

Saturday, September 21 at 7:30

p.m and Sunday, September 22 at 2

p.m.

Tickets are $20 per person and

available for purchase online at

www.showtix4u.com. The event is

at the Summerlin Library and Per-

forming Arts Center, 1771 Inner

Circle Drive.

* * * * *

HALL OF FAME GROUP AT

EASTSIDE CANNERY

Celebrating their 50th anniver-

sary as a group, acclaimed R&B act

The Whispers appear at the Eastside

Events Center at Eastside Cannery

Casino & Hotel, 5255 Boulder

Highway, at 8:30 p.m. September

28, 2013.

The Whispers are members of

both the Vocal Group Hall of Fame

(inducted in 2003) and the

SoulMusic Hall of Fame at

Soulmusic.com (2012).

Classic songs “And The Beat

Goes On” and “Rock Steady”

reached the top of the R&B charts,

and The Whispers’ extensive cata-

log includes 13 hits that soared to

the top 10 on the R&B list.

The Whispers gained national

attention with their 70s albums,

“One For The Money,” “Open Up

Your Love,” and “Headlights,” and

scored their first platinum album in

1980 with the self-titled album

“The Whispers.”

The group consists of brothers

Walter and Wallace “Scotty” Scott,

as well as Nicholas Caldwell and

Leaveil Degree. All but Degree are

founding members of The Whispers

with a history spanning five de-

cades of success.

Tickets start at $14.95 and can

be purchased online at

www.eastsidecannery.com. For

more information, call the Eastside

Cannery box office at (702) 856-

5470.

* * * * *

Mike Kermani is an entertain-

ment writer for the Las Vegas Tri-

bune newspaper. He writes a weekly

column in this newspaper. To con-

tact Mike Kermani, email

mkermani@ lasvegas tribune.com

Corporate, private, cruises,

schools, hospitals, libraries,

festivals, birthdays,

holidays... many different

characters. Affordable.

Call “Vegas Best Party”

at 702-956-7333

Joyful PartiesGuaranteed!

Page 14 / LAS VEGAS TRIBUNE / September 18-24, 2013

Louie Anderson

The Whispers


By Pete Allman

Las Vegas Tribune

Photos by Tom Donoghue

Floyd “Money” Mayweather

lived up to his expectations on Sat-

urdays WBC/WBAChampion fight

against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez at

The MGM Grand Garden. Alvarez,

of Guadelupe, Mexico (43-2, 30

KO’s) said Mayweather took him

out of his game plan and that he

couldn’t catch him with the right

shots. For Mayweather (45-0, 26

KO’s), it was another payday.

Mayweather showed he could trade

punches with Alvarez by using his

jab and countering with rights to his

jaw and body.

Alvarez, on the other side of the

coin, felt by eating well and putting

on the extra weight before the fight,

he would have the advantage. It

didn’t help him though, especially

when he had to catch Mayweather

in the early rounds with strong body

shots. He was no match for

Mayweather’s experience and

speed.

Mayweather showed his domi-

nance throughout the rounds, espe-

cially in the 5th and 7th where he

connected strong rights and

straight-forward punches, not to

mention having Alvarez on the

ropes in the 7th.

Judge Craig Metcalfe of Canada

scored it 117-111 in favor of

Mayweather, while Dave Moretti of

Las Vegas had it 116-112 for

Mayweather. CJ Ross had it a draw

at 114-114. Showtime punch stats

showed that Mayweather landed 46

percent of his 232 punches out of

505, while Alvarez landed 117 of

his 526 punches. That’s 22 percent

compared to Mayweather’s 46 per-

cent. Of the power punches,

Alvarez landed 232 to

Mayweather’s 175.

This was without question the

biggest pay-per-view fight in the

PETE ALLMAN

history of boxing. The paid gate

alone was 20 million and the pay-

per-view is reported to have been

100 million. Among the many ce-

lebrities who attended this fight

were Denzil Washington, Jack

Nicholson, Magic Johnson, Lizzy

Caplan, Rosie Perez, LL Cool Jay,

Don Chendle, Lil Wayne and Jus-

tin Beiber.

Semi Main Event Danny Garcia

vs Lucas Matthysee

Danny Garcia (27-0, 16KO’s) of

Phildelphia surprised Lucas

Matthysee (35-3-ind, 32KO’s) of

Argentina, with his excellent speed

and far better boxing skills than his

opponent. Garcia winning the

WBA/WBC Super Lightweight

title won by unanimous decision.

Matthysee, a power hitter, didn’t

have the accuracy to make his hits

count. His game plan had changed

after his right eye was closed from

the lightning speed of Garcia in the

early 5th round.

Calos Molina vs Ishe Smith

Carlos Molina (22-5-2,6 KO’s)

won a 12-round IBF Jr. Middle-

weight title from Ishe Smith (25-6,

11KO’s). The scores were 117-111

for Monlina, 116-112 for Smith,

116-112 Molina. Carlos Molina

won by split decision.

Mayweather defeats Alvarez by majority decision


By Jerry Fink

Las Vegas Tribune

Consummate performer and LasVegas resident Pia Zadora joinsforces with another notable main-stay, Piero’s Italian Cuisine, withthe opening of “Pia’s Place,” aspace long known as the MonkeyBar. Opening September 19, Zadorawill perform in the intimate roomThursday, Friday and Saturday eve-nings indefinitely beginning at 9p.m.

At “Pia’s Place,” the chanteusereunites with legendary Sinatra pia-nist and musical director VincentFalcone rounding out a quartet.Zadora will showcase her versionsof standards such as “The Lady is aTramp,” “Old Black Magic,” and“All of Me,” as well as a variety oftimeless classics.

“I have always loved Piero’s andI’m excited to become a part of theirfamily and share my music withtheir guests,” said Zadora. “Piero’sis the quintessential establishmentthat exudes old Vegas charm.”

Pia Zadora performs in “Pia’sPlace” at Piero’s Italian Cuisine,355 Convention Center Drive, onThursday, Friday and Saturday eve-nings starting at 9 p.m. beginningSeptember 19. A cover of $30 in-cludes two drinks. Must be 21 andover with a valid ID.

* * * * *

ARTVARGAS’VINTAGE

VEGAS LIVE!

Vargas takes you back to theGolden era of Las Vegas, in thisfabulous 90 minute show begininning at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 28at the CasaBlanca Resort Mesquite.

Tickets: http://mesquitegaming.com/ad-vargas/

Swingin the Music that definedthe Golden era. Las Vegas show-man Art Vargas brings to life Vin-tage Las Vegas through excitingsong & dance performances remi-niscent of the legendary stars ofVintage Vegas. With the Swingin’Swank Set band, featuring theFabulous Vargas girl and SpecialGuest Laura Shaffer. Acclaimed asone of Vegas’ best performers, ArtVargas represents Vegas Golden Eralike no other, experience authenticvintage Vegas performance in thisswingin’ show, featuring the musicof: Bobby Darin, Louis Prima &Keely Smith, Frank Sinatra, PeggyLee, Cab Calloway, and Elvis.

* * * * *

SMITH CENTER OCTOBER

SHOW LISTINGS

Reynolds Hall

World Blues featuring TajMahal, Vusi Mahlasela and DevaMahal with Fredericks Brown

“World Blues” is a celebrationof American blues music’s globalinfluence, as seen from three verydiverse points of view and three in-ternational points of origin. An-chored by iconic folk-blues legendTaj Mahal, the evening will alsofeature the soulful South Africanblues of guitarist/vocalist VusiMahlasela and the more modernrock and roll perspective ofFredericks Brown, a band featuringTaj’s daughter, Deva Mahal, whohails from New Zealand.

Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013 at 7:30p.m.

Ticket prices start at $26Reynolds Hall

Las Vegas Philharmonic —POPS I — Dancing & Romancing

Inspired by Fred Astaire & Gin-ger Rogers, “Dancing & Romanc-ing” is a toe-tapping, heart-pound-ing celebration of 1930s Broadwayand Hollywood with energetic per-formances by Joan Hess and KirbyWard conducted by Stuart Chafetz.The orchestra will perform lush ren-ditions of songs by Irving Berlin,

niversary year with a new musicalcomedy, taking up the cultural blud-geon of reality TV, and they bringit to Provincetown after a five-yearCape Cod hiatus. In this brilliantreality TV mash-up, we findRachel, Winnie, Trixie andTrampolina in the jungle, tryingtheir best to score at challenges thatinvolve singing, dancing, dating,dieting and, of course, large insects.

Friday, Oct. 11, 2013 at 7 p.m.;Saturday, Oct. 12-13, 2013 at 8p.m.; Sunday, Oct. 13, 2013 at 3p.m.

Ticket prices start at $35Cabaret Jazz

SOUL MEN Starring SPEC-TRUM

SPECTRUM, Las Vegas’ own,award winning, Soul/R&B vocalgroup returns home from nationaland international touring schedulesfor one of their rare Vegas appear-ances. The group boasts four in-credible singers, each with the voiceof a solo artist, who combine theirvoices and dexterity to create theangelic harmonies and deft chore-ography that have become trade-marks of Spectrum. They werevoted Best of Las Vegas in 2005 and2006, received the Las Vegas Liv-ing Legends Award in 2009 andwere awarded a star on Las Vegas’Walk of Stars in 2012.

Friday-Saturday, Oct. 18-19,2013 at 7 p.m.


Danny Wright “Reflections”Danny Wright debuts “Reflec-

tions”, an intimate cabaret-styleconcert at The Smith Center’s el-egant Cabaret Jazz showroom, inwhich he shares the touching sto-ries behind the melodic works onhis brilliant new double album,“Reflections.” Celebrated aroundthe world as the Healer of Hearts,Danny’s accomplished piano per-formances and sophisticated com-positions are rooted in the classics,yet inspired by real people andevents in his life.

Sunday, October 20, 2013 at 2and 6 p.m.


Betty Buckley starring in “TheVixens of Broadway”

Betty Buckley brings “The Vix-ens of Broadway” to the Smith Cen-ter which highlights some ofBroadway’s most popular showscelebrating the second female leads.Song selections will include hitsfrom “Chicago,” “Evita,” “Com-pany,” “Oklahoma” and “Into theWoods.” Buckley will also performsongs from Jerry Herman’s “DearWorld” in which she just starred inthe London Premiere earlier thisyear.

Friday-Saturday, Oct. 25-26,2013 at 7 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday,

Cole Porter, Jerome Kern andGeorge Gershwin.

Saturday, Oct. 12, 2013 at 7:30p.m.; Pre-concert conversation 6:45p.m.


Sister ActProduced by Whoopi Goldberg,

Stage Entertainment and Troika En-tertainment, “Sister Act” tells thestory of disco diva Deloris VanCartier’s journey in protective cus-tody after witnessing a murder.Stuck in a convent and disguisedas a nun, she finds herself at oddswith both the rigid lifestyle and anuptight Mother Superior. The hilari-ous comedic musical was nomi-nated for five Tony Awards and theAssociated Press says, “In a word,divine. This is a musical that hitsall the right spots, achieving some-thing close to Broadway grace.”

Tuesday-Friday, Oct. 15-20,2013 at 7:30 p.m., Saturday-Sun-day, Oct. 19-20, 2013 at 2 and 7:30p.m.


A spirit of fearless explorationseparates the Kronos Quarter fromall others. They do not simply playmusic. They create atmospheres ofrich emotion. They conjure up pow-erful experiences that never quitefade from memory. And now, theillustrious and Grammy-winningquartet will appear at The SmithCenter to premiere a special newwork from Philip Glass, alongsidemoving works from Laurie Ander-son, Bryce Dessner of The Na-tional, and composer Clint Mansell.

Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2013 at 7:30p.m.


Broadway legend AudraMcDonald returns to the concertstage after four seasons on the hitABC television series “PrivatePractice,” and after winning arecord-tying fifth Tony Award forher unforgettable performance in“The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess.”Joined by a jazz ensemble, the two-time Grammy Award winner willperform an intimate evening of fa-vorite show tunes, classic songsfrom the movies, and originalpieces written especially for thisextraordinary artist who is at theheight of her expressive powers.“Ravishing of voice and Olympianof stature, she’s an overwhelmingpresence,” said The New YorkTimes.

Jazz Roots “Ladies of Jazz” fea-turing Dee Dee Bridgewater andThe Mosaic Project consisting ofTerri Lyne Carrington, EsperanzaSpalding, Gretchen Parlato, GerriAllen and Tia Fuller

Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013 at7:30 p.m.


Jim Caruso’s Cast Party withBilly Stritch

Called “the gold standard ofopen mic nights” by the Wall StreetJournal, Jim Caruso’s Cast Party isa cool cabaret night-out. Led bymusical director Billy Stritch,showbiz superstars hit the stagealongside up-and-comers, servingup jaw-dropping music and generalrazzle-dazzle.

Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013 at 9:30p.m.


The Kinsey Sicks in “America’sNext Top Bachelor Housewife Ce-lebrity Hoarder Makeover StarGone Wild”

“The Kinsey Sicks,” America’sFavorite Dragapella BeautyshopQuartet, is celebrating its 20th an-

Oct. 26-27, 2013 at 3 p.m.Ticket prices start at $39

Symphony Park

Zoppe — An Italian Family Cir-cus

In 1842, Napoleone andErmengilda Zoppe founded CircoZoppe near Venice, Italy and theirvision lives on as Zoppe, a tradi-tional one-ring European circus.Join the Zoppe family on their jour-ney to an enchanted, thrilling worldfar from our digital age — to aworld of acrobatics, equestrianshowmanship, canine capers,clowns and lots of audience partici-pation. Always charming, oftenthrilling, Zoppe is an intimate, in-volving experience. In their 600-seat tent, no one is more than 25feet from the ring!

Thursday-Saturday, Oct. 31-Nov. 2, 2013 at 7 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, Nov. 2-3, 2013 at 2 p.m.;Sunday, Nov. 3, 2013 at 5 p.m.

Ticket prices start at $25 forAdults and $12.50 for Youth

* * * * *

STRAIGHT NO CHASER TO

SHARE THEIR “INFLU-

ENCE”

A cappella superstars StraightNo Chaser hit the road on a NorthAmerican Fall Tour with the onlywest coast dates landing the groupat The Pearl Concert Theater insidePalms Casino Resort Show datesand times are Sept. 26 through Sept.28 at 8 p.m., with an additionalmatinee on Sept. 28 at 2 p.m. Tick-ets start at $43.50, plus any addi-tional service fees.

The weekend residency will of-fer fans the chance to come togetherfor three days of concerts and spe-cial events as a part of “The ChaserSummit.” Packages including tick-ets to all four concert events andthree nights of hotels at the PalmsCasino Resort will be availablethrough Ticketmaster. “The ChaserSummit” concert events will offerfans the first opportunity to previewthe music that will be featured inthe “Under The Influence NorthAmerican Tour” which officiallybegins Oct. 16.

Atlantic Records recordinggroup Straight No Chaser has an-nounced details of their upcoming“Under The Influence NorthAmeri-can Tour.” The dates celebrate theupcoming release of the acclaimeda cappella group’s eagerly awaitednew album, Under the Influence, set

“Pia’s Place” opens September 19

to arrive in stores and at all DSPson May 7.

Under the Influence sees the ac-claimed a cappella groupreimagining a selection of their alltime favorite songs alongside manyof the superstar artists and undis-puted music icons that made themfamous. Produced by Mark Kibble— a founding member of the leg-endary a cappella group Take 6 andone of Straight No Chaser’s pri-mary influences — the album in-cludes unprecedented collabora-tions with some of popular music’sbest and brightest — including PhilCollins, Stevie Wonder, Elton John,Dolly Parton, Rob Thomas, Sealand Jason Mraz — as Straight NoChaser put their distinctive and in-imitable spin on songs known andloved the world over.

Under the Influence is heraldedby the new single, “I Want YouBack” featuring Sara Bareilles. Acompanion video for the inventivetake on the Jackson 5 classic — aswell audio clips for an array of ad-ditional album tracks — are stream-ing now at the official Straight NoChaser YouTube channel, located atwww.youtube.com/sncmusic.

The tour marks a milestone forStraight No Chaser as they featurethe return of founding memberSteve Morgan, who rejoins thegroup after the departure late lastyear of Ryan Ahlwardt. Fans canmeet the newest/oldest member ofSNC at Straight No Chaser’s offi-cial YouTube channel,www.youtube.com/sncmusic.

For more information, pleasevisit www.sncmusic.com,w w w . f a c e b o o k . c o m /StraightNoChaser, twitter.com/SNCmusic, and the websitewww.myspace.com/sncmusic.

Doors at the Pearl will open at 7p.m. and show time is 8 p.m. Forthe matinee, doors will open at 1p.m. and show time is 2 p.m. ThePearl Box Office is open daily fromnoon until 7 p.m. with extendedhours on select event days. ThePearl is now on Twitter.

Follow @PearlatPalms for con-cert announcements and event in-formation.

* * * * *

Jerry Fink is an entertainment

columnist for the Las Vegas Tribune

newspaper and writes a weekly col-

umn. To contact Jerry Fink, email

him at jfink@ lasvegastribune.com.


By Jerry Fink

Las Vegas Tribune

Consummate performer and LasVegas resident Pia Zadora joinsforces with another notable main-stay, Piero’s Italian Cuisine, withthe opening of “Pia’s Place,” aspace long known as the MonkeyBar. Opening September 19, Zadorawill perform in the intimate roomThursday, Friday and Saturday eve-nings indefinitely beginning at 9p.m.

At “Pia’s Place,” the chanteusereunites with legendary Sinatra pia-nist and musical director VincentFalcone rounding out a quartet.Zadora will showcase her versionsof standards such as “The Lady is aTramp,” “Old Black Magic,” and“All of Me,” as well as a variety oftimeless classics.

“I have always loved Piero’s andI’m excited to become a part of theirfamily and share my music withtheir guests,” said Zadora. “Piero’sis the quintessential establishmentthat exudes old Vegas charm.”

Pia Zadora performs in “Pia’sPlace” at Piero’s Italian Cuisine,355 Convention Center Drive, onThursday, Friday and Saturday eve-nings starting at 9 p.m. beginningSeptember 19. A cover of $30 in-cludes two drinks. Must be 21 andover with a valid ID.

* * * * *

ARTVARGAS’VINTAGE

VEGAS LIVE!

Vargas takes you back to theGolden era of Las Vegas, in thisfabulous 90 minute show begininning at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 28at the CasaBlanca Resort Mesquite.

Tickets: http://mesquitegaming.com/ad-vargas/

Swingin the Music that definedthe Golden era. Las Vegas show-man Art Vargas brings to life Vin-tage Las Vegas through excitingsong & dance performances remi-niscent of the legendary stars ofVintage Vegas. With the Swingin’Swank Set band, featuring theFabulous Vargas girl and SpecialGuest Laura Shaffer. Acclaimed asone of Vegas’ best performers, ArtVargas represents Vegas Golden Eralike no other, experience authenticvintage Vegas performance in thisswingin’ show, featuring the musicof: Bobby Darin, Louis Prima &Keely Smith, Frank Sinatra, PeggyLee, Cab Calloway, and Elvis.

* * * * *

SMITH CENTER OCTOBER

SHOW LISTINGS

Reynolds Hall

World Blues featuring TajMahal, Vusi Mahlasela and DevaMahal with Fredericks Brown

“World Blues” is a celebrationof American blues music’s globalinfluence, as seen from three verydiverse points of view and three in-ternational points of origin. An-chored by iconic folk-blues legendTaj Mahal, the evening will alsofeature the soulful South Africanblues of guitarist/vocalist VusiMahlasela and the more modernrock and roll perspective ofFredericks Brown, a band featuringTaj’s daughter, Deva Mahal, whohails from New Zealand.

Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013 at 7:30p.m.


Las Vegas Philharmonic —POPS I — Dancing & Romancing

Inspired by Fred Astaire & Gin-ger Rogers, “Dancing & Romanc-ing” is a toe-tapping, heart-pound-ing celebration of 1930s Broadwayand Hollywood with energetic per-formances by Joan Hess and KirbyWard conducted by Stuart Chafetz.The orchestra will perform lush ren-ditions of songs by Irving Berlin,

niversary year with a new musicalcomedy, taking up the cultural blud-geon of reality TV, and they bringit to Provincetown after a five-yearCape Cod hiatus. In this brilliantreality TV mash-up, we findRachel, Winnie, Trixie andTrampolina in the jungle, tryingtheir best to score at challenges thatinvolve singing, dancing, dating,dieting and, of course, large insects.

Friday, Oct. 11, 2013 at 7 p.m.;Saturday, Oct. 12-13, 2013 at 8p.m.; Sunday, Oct. 13, 2013 at 3p.m.


SOUL MEN Starring SPEC-TRUM

SPECTRUM, Las Vegas’ own,award winning, Soul/R&B vocalgroup returns home from nationaland international touring schedulesfor one of their rare Vegas appear-ances. The group boasts four in-credible singers, each with the voiceof a solo artist, who combine theirvoices and dexterity to create theangelic harmonies and deft chore-ography that have become trade-marks of Spectrum. They werevoted Best of Las Vegas in 2005 and2006, received the Las Vegas Liv-ing Legends Award in 2009 andwere awarded a star on Las Vegas’Walk of Stars in 2012.

Friday-Saturday, Oct. 18-19,2013 at 7 p.m.


Danny Wright “Reflections”Danny Wright debuts “Reflec-

tions”, an intimate cabaret-styleconcert at The Smith Center’s el-egant Cabaret Jazz showroom, inwhich he shares the touching sto-ries behind the melodic works onhis brilliant new double album,“Reflections.” Celebrated aroundthe world as the Healer of Hearts,Danny’s accomplished piano per-formances and sophisticated com-positions are rooted in the classics,yet inspired by real people andevents in his life.

Sunday, October 20, 2013 at 2and 6 p.m.


Betty Buckley starring in “TheVixens of Broadway”

Betty Buckley brings “The Vix-ens of Broadway” to the Smith Cen-ter which highlights some ofBroadway’s most popular showscelebrating the second female leads.Song selections will include hitsfrom “Chicago,” “Evita,” “Com-pany,” “Oklahoma” and “Into theWoods.” Buckley will also performsongs from Jerry Herman’s “DearWorld” in which she just starred inthe London Premiere earlier thisyear.

Friday-Saturday, Oct. 25-26,2013 at 7 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday,

Cole Porter, Jerome Kern andGeorge Gershwin.

Saturday, Oct. 12, 2013 at 7:30p.m.; Pre-concert conversation 6:45p.m.


Sister ActProduced by Whoopi Goldberg,

Stage Entertainment and Troika En-tertainment, “Sister Act” tells thestory of disco diva Deloris VanCartier’s journey in protective cus-tody after witnessing a murder.Stuck in a convent and disguisedas a nun, she finds herself at oddswith both the rigid lifestyle and anuptight Mother Superior. The hilari-ous comedic musical was nomi-nated for five Tony Awards and theAssociated Press says, “In a word,divine. This is a musical that hitsall the right spots, achieving some-thing close to Broadway grace.”

Tuesday-Friday, Oct. 15-20,2013 at 7:30 p.m., Saturday-Sun-day, Oct. 19-20, 2013 at 2 and 7:30p.m.


A spirit of fearless explorationseparates the Kronos Quarter fromall others. They do not simply playmusic. They create atmospheres ofrich emotion. They conjure up pow-erful experiences that never quitefade from memory. And now, theillustrious and Grammy-winningquartet will appear at The SmithCenter to premiere a special newwork from Philip Glass, alongsidemoving works from Laurie Ander-son, Bryce Dessner of The Na-tional, and composer Clint Mansell.

Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2013 at 7:30p.m.


Broadway legend AudraMcDonald returns to the concertstage after four seasons on the hitABC television series “PrivatePractice,” and after winning arecord-tying fifth Tony Award forher unforgettable performance in“The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess.”Joined by a jazz ensemble, the two-time Grammy Award winner willperform an intimate evening of fa-vorite show tunes, classic songsfrom the movies, and originalpieces written especially for thisextraordinary artist who is at theheight of her expressive powers.“Ravishing of voice and Olympianof stature, she’s an overwhelmingpresence,” said The New YorkTimes.

Jazz Roots “Ladies of Jazz” fea-turing Dee Dee Bridgewater andThe Mosaic Project consisting ofTerri Lyne Carrington, EsperanzaSpalding, Gretchen Parlato, GerriAllen and Tia Fuller

Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013 at7:30 p.m.


Jim Caruso’s Cast Party withBilly Stritch

Called “the gold standard ofopen mic nights” by the Wall StreetJournal, Jim Caruso’s Cast Party isa cool cabaret night-out. Led bymusical director Billy Stritch,showbiz superstars hit the stagealongside up-and-comers, servingup jaw-dropping music and generalrazzle-dazzle.

Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013 at 9:30p.m.


The Kinsey Sicks in “America’sNext Top Bachelor Housewife Ce-lebrity Hoarder Makeover StarGone Wild”

“The Kinsey Sicks,” America’sFavorite Dragapella BeautyshopQuartet, is celebrating its 20th an-

Oct. 26-27, 2013 at 3 p.m.Ticket prices start at $39

Symphony Park

Zoppe — An Italian Family Cir-cus

In 1842, Napoleone andErmengilda Zoppe founded CircoZoppe near Venice, Italy and theirvision lives on as Zoppe, a tradi-tional one-ring European circus.Join the Zoppe family on their jour-ney to an enchanted, thrilling worldfar from our digital age — to aworld of acrobatics, equestrianshowmanship, canine capers,clowns and lots of audience partici-pation. Always charming, oftenthrilling, Zoppe is an intimate, in-volving experience. In their 600-seat tent, no one is more than 25feet from the ring!

Thursday-Saturday, Oct. 31-Nov. 2, 2013 at 7 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, Nov. 2-3, 2013 at 2 p.m.;Sunday, Nov. 3, 2013 at 5 p.m.

Ticket prices start at $25 forAdults and $12.50 for Youth

* * * * *

STRAIGHT NO CHASER TO

SHARE THEIR “INFLU-

ENCE”

A cappella superstars StraightNo Chaser hit the road on a NorthAmerican Fall Tour with the onlywest coast dates landing the groupat The Pearl Concert Theater insidePalms Casino Resort Show datesand times are Sept. 26 through Sept.28 at 8 p.m., with an additionalmatinee on Sept. 28 at 2 p.m. Tick-ets start at $43.50, plus any addi-tional service fees.

The weekend residency will of-fer fans the chance to come togetherfor three days of concerts and spe-cial events as a part of “The ChaserSummit.” Packages including tick-ets to all four concert events andthree nights of hotels at the PalmsCasino Resort will be availablethrough Ticketmaster. “The ChaserSummit” concert events will offerfans the first opportunity to previewthe music that will be featured inthe “Under The Influence NorthAmerican Tour” which officiallybegins Oct. 16.

Atlantic Records recordinggroup Straight No Chaser has an-nounced details of their upcoming“Under The Influence NorthAmeri-can Tour.” The dates celebrate theupcoming release of the acclaimeda cappella group’s eagerly awaitednew album, Under the Influence, set

“Pia’s Place” opens September 19

to arrive in stores and at all DSPson May 7.

Under the Influence sees the ac-claimed a cappella groupreimagining a selection of their alltime favorite songs alongside manyof the superstar artists and undis-puted music icons that made themfamous. Produced by Mark Kibble— a founding member of the leg-endary a cappella group Take 6 andone of Straight No Chaser’s pri-mary influences — the album in-cludes unprecedented collabora-tions with some of popular music’sbest and brightest — including PhilCollins, Stevie Wonder, Elton John,Dolly Parton, Rob Thomas, Sealand Jason Mraz — as Straight NoChaser put their distinctive and in-imitable spin on songs known andloved the world over.

Under the Influence is heraldedby the new single, “I Want YouBack” featuring Sara Bareilles. Acompanion video for the inventivetake on the Jackson 5 classic — aswell audio clips for an array of ad-ditional album tracks — are stream-ing now at the official Straight NoChaser YouTube channel, located atwww.youtube.com/sncmusic.

The tour marks a milestone forStraight No Chaser as they featurethe return of founding memberSteve Morgan, who rejoins thegroup after the departure late lastyear of Ryan Ahlwardt. Fans canmeet the newest/oldest member ofSNC at Straight No Chaser’s offi-cial YouTube channel,www.youtube.com/sncmusic.

For more information, pleasevisit www.sncmusic.com,w w w . f a c e b o o k . c o m /StraightNoChaser, twitter.com/SNCmusic, and the websitewww.myspace.com/sncmusic.

Doors at the Pearl will open at 7p.m. and show time is 8 p.m. Forthe matinee, doors will open at 1p.m. and show time is 2 p.m. ThePearl Box Office is open daily fromnoon until 7 p.m. with extendedhours on select event days. ThePearl is now on Twitter.

Follow @PearlatPalms for con-cert announcements and event in-formation.

* * * * *

Jerry Fink is an entertainment

columnist for the Las Vegas Tribune

newspaper and writes a weekly col-

umn. To contact Jerry Fink, email

him at jfink@ lasvegastribune.com.

Massage Therapy can help Your HealthBy Sandy Zimmerman

Las Vegas Tribune


A massage is a way of taking

care of yourself even if you don’t

have any medical conditions.

Just relax on the massage table,

let the massage therapist pamper

you.

David Otto, Massage Therapist,

owner of Hands in Motion and cer-

tified member of the American

Massage Therapy Association

(AMTA), explained, “My clients

want massages for various reasons.

Most pain management or repeti-

tive motion concerns are conditions

people may want to resolve with

massage. If the client is prone to

tension headaches, I gave them ex-

ercises they can do at work. I sug-

gest they take a few moments out

of every hour, to do some of these

stretches, to re-center themselves.

“They should become aware of

how they are sitting. A chronic pos-

ture issue is usually what brings

them to my massage table for pain

issues. For posture issues, I can help

lengthen the muscles. That is my

intent for every massage. Length-

ening the muscles improves a

person’s posture and the quality of

their life outside the massage ses-

sion. People see a value in that.

“One of my clients works in an

office six days a week, 12 hours a

September 18-24, 2013 / LAS VEGAS TRIBUNE / Page 19

HEALTH LIFESTYLES&

day and is on her feet all the time. I

will access my client’s lifestyles.

Sometimes it is important to know

their type of work.

“Another assessment tool I use

is to ask them what activities they

do every day. If the client manages

an office, I ask about the type of

clothes they wear. Everything is

important.

“Most of the time, I use Swed-

ish massage with trigger point tech-

niques for repetitive motion inju-

ries. It is becoming more popular

for companies to support regular

massages for their employee’s.

These are similar to gym member-

ships and regular checkups at the

doctor. Massage is becoming part

of a lifestyle. Even in the work-

place, chair massage is very popu-

lar.”

According to the AMTA, “Spi-

nal manipulation can provide short-

and long-term relief for pain, espe-

cially if the pain hasn’t improved

with self-care. Manipulation may

also boost psychological well-being

and everyday functioning. Some

evidence shows that the therapy

may improve headache symptoms

and neck pain.”

David Otto takes his massage

table to his client’s homes and of-

fices.

He does not base his practice on

medical problems.

AMTA’s 17th Annual National

Massage Therapy Awareness Week

is being held October20-28. Part of

the AMTA’s Consumer Awareness

Program, is an opportunity to learn

the health benefits of massage.

http://www.amtamassage.org/cap/

nmtaw.html

TheAmerican Massage Therapy

Association has a website that an-

swers questions about the types of

massage, research and the benefits

of massage therapy.

www.amtamassage.org

Find a Massage Therapist: http:/

/www.findamassagetherapist.org

(Please Note: Ask your physi-

cian before starting any health re-

gime.)

Award winning Sandy

Zimmerman has been involved in

producing television, TV commer-

cials, and travel specials for 28

years. Sandy is a syndicated Show

and Dining Reviewer, travel writer,

professional photographer and talk

show host of the Las Vegas Today

Show and Discover the Ultimate

Vacation travel specials.

For information or questions

contact Sandy Zimmerman at

(702)-731-6491 or email her at

[email protected].


By Sandy Zimmerman

Las Vegas Tribune


The Plan Check Kitchen & Bar

serves classic American cuisine

with a Japanese influence. You can

expect generous portions and

unique dishes.

When ordering their oysters on

the half shell, the server asks, “How

many do you want?”

These oysters are much larger

than the ones served at other res-

taurants. Each oyster measures

around 3-to-5 inches long, it is simi-

lar to eating two or three oysters in

one.

Their interesting Japanese

Yuzukosho cocktail sauce was pre-

pared with Chile peppers to add a

zing to the oysters. The Yuzu is a

Japanese citrus fruit.

Another appetizer that sounds

intriguing with a Japanese touch is

the baked crab dip topped with dy-

namite sauce, masago, charred to-

mato and nori with toast.

Masago are small crunchy or-

ange eggs (roe) from the capelin

fish (salmon family).

Nori is the Japanese name for

paper-thin sheets of edible dried

seaweed used to wrap sushi and rice

balls.

The short rib pot roast entrée is

cooked with wine for about six to

eight hours until it is tender then

served in a hot iron skillet.

There is also bone marrow, a

turnover pie and sweet and sour

mirepoix.

Mirepoix is used to season

sauces and stews as well as for a

bed on which to braise meats or

fish.

With several flavors in one dish,

you can mix your taste choices.

PLACES TO GOQUICK GETAWAYS

The Plan Check Kitchen & Bar Creates Unique Cuisine

Oysters on the Half Shell

The Plan Check Bar offers an

impressive collection of spirits in-

cluding American Bourbon (9),

American Rye Whiskey (15), Rum

(5), Vodka (3), Gin (6), Agave (8),

Japanese Whiskey (22), Japanese

Flights (6), Canadian Whiskey (2),

Ire whiskey (6), Bourbon & Whis-

key (24) and Scotch Whiskey (16).

They also serve Cocktails (9),

Draft beer (8), Bottled Beer (18)

and Wine (10).

Even their house-made soda

recipe is different with its mixture

of Yuzu, mango, vanilla cream and

lemon.

Open: Sunday-Wednesday:

11:30 a.m.-10 p.m.; Thursday:

11:30 a.m.-11 p.m.; Saturday &

Sunday: 11:30 a.m.–Midnight.

The Plan Check Kitchen and Bar

is located at 1800 Sawtelle Boule-

vard in west Los Angeles. This

neighborhood is named the Little

Osaka area because of all the Japa-

nese restaurants there.

For information, call (310) 288-

6500 or visit the website

www.plancheckbar.com.

Award winning Sandy

Zimmerman has been involved in

producing television programs, TV

commercials, and travel specials

for 28 years. Sandy is a syndicated

Show and Dining Reviewer, travel

writer, professional photographer

and talk show host of the Las Ve-

gas Today Show and Discover the

Ultimate Vacation travel specials.

For information or questions about

any of Sandy’s columns, contact

Sandy Zimmerman at (702)-735-

6974. SUGGESTIONS: What is

your favorite hotel, inn, bed-and-

breakfast Inn or resort in Las Ve-

gas or anywhere in the world? Let

us know the reason for your choice,

your name, telephone number,

email and you may win free show

tickets or other prizes. Please send

your information to: P.O. Box

#750211, Las Vegas, NV. 89136.

Plan Check Bar & Restaurant serves American Cuisine with a Japan influence. The Appetizers include Stuffed Mushrooms, Cheese, Meats and Dips.

Short Rib Pot Roast in Oven DishBaked Crab Dip

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